Carson Wentz is set to make his NFL debut when the Philadelphia Eagles kick off against the Cleveland Browns at 1 p.m. ET.
Despite the fact that the rookie quarterback played just 39 snaps before suffering a rib injury that sidelined him the rest of the preseason, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported on GameDay First on Sunday morning that the Eagles entire playbook will be open for the rookie.
"There will be no limitations on him and on the playbook this week, much as that might be hard to understand," Garafolo said. "The reason for that is during the preseason he was in the coaches' ears while they were game planning and putting everything together saying 'I like this,' 'I don't like this.' He wasn't even playing, he was down with a broken rib, but acting like he was the starter. They love this kid. They love his confidence. They love the knowledge of the playbook. Once they committed to him as the starter, after the Sam Bradford trade, they said they would do it with no limitations."
Wentz has a fortuitous matchup versus a Browns defense that lacks bona fide pass rushers and has a shaky back end. If there was ever a defense for a rookie with very limited snaps to light up a defense in his first game, Cleveland's 2016 group could be it.
The Eagles bragged about Wentz's mental acuity since trading a bounty of picks to draft the North Dakota State product. Most scouts believed the rookie needed some time on the sideline to make the leap from an FCS program to NFL. The Bradford trade changed that plan.
Wentz is getting tossed into the fire. At least he'll have the entire playbook to help battle through the flames.
