NFL

Eagles asking to play their two Los Angeles games back-to-back

Eagles asking to play their two Los Angeles games back-to-back
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The Eagles’ official schedule doesn’t come out for a few more weeks, but the team as known its 2017 opponents since the end of last season, and with the recent shuffling of NFL teams out west, they know they will be playing both the Rams and the Chargers in Los Angeles.

Doug Pederson, who made remarks to the media Wednesday in Phoenix, said he requested to the league that the two games come back-to-back.

This would allow the Birds to stay in L.A. for two entire weeks without needing to fly five hours home and then five hours back.

A few other details were disclosed by Pederson — who spent much of the discussion with media members talking about Carson Wentz and the upcoming draft — including when OTAs begin.

Related: Eagles make pair of signings

“Carson will be ready to go April 17,” Pederson said. “He will be on that field. For him coming in the second year from a leadership standpoint and as quarterback, he’s the face of the franchise and he embraces that. It will be big in terms of the way he talks and handles the guys around him offensively. He is obviously capable of doing that. And too, by him going through 16 games last year there’s a level of maturity we are always lookingto improve.”

Wentz has had a relaxing but busy summer, from working out with Latavius Murray out west to hunting all over the country to sitting back and watching the Eagles collect weapons for him like Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith. Pederson doesn’t expect things to change much in 2017, knowing full-well his success in the NFL as a head coach is directly tied to the performance of his young quarterback.

“I know Carson. I know his chemistry and his makeup,” the coach said. “I am not concerned.”

He also is optimistic about the team’s win total in 2017 even before the release of the official slate and date of games. Last year’s 7-9 record was not good enough.

“We want to be better than that,” he said. “We will be better than that.”