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Eagles’ Carson Wentz loves the deep ball – Metro US
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Eagles’ Carson Wentz loves the deep ball

Eagles’ Carson Wentz loves the deep ball
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Eagles fans love when their quarterbacks go deep.

It doesn’t take too much combing through Philly sports memories to recall Donovan McNabb or Michael Vick airing it out to DeSean Jackson or Jeremy Maclin back when the Birds were one of the biggest deep-ball threats in football.

Soon enough, when rookie Carson Wentzlearns how to be an NFL quarterback and takes over for veteran Sam Bradford, those days could return.

The key is knowing when it’s appropriate to air it out.

“I think there’s a fine line,” Wentz told the media during Eagles’ minicamp earlier in June.”There’s a time to be aggressive. That’s something I like to bring, throw the ball down the field when it’s there, but there’s also a time to reel it in.”

For Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, it’s all about trusting his quarterback to make a good decision. And the former NFL QB is really enthused about the aggressiveness — and the potential to create X plays on offense.

“It’s part of learning the system,” the coach said. “He has a natural ability to throw the ball down the field and that’s what you like. You love the aggression. You want to be able to push it down the field. And some of it is by play design and some of it is just by sheer mistake. But man, I love seeing the ball go over the top at times.”

Wentz threw the ball deep often at North Dakota State as well, and sometimes regretted it. But that doesn’t mean he will change his outlook. He just knows he has to learn how to pick apart NFL defenses before he launches a bomb against secondaries much more talented than those he saw in college.

“Part of it’s my nature,” he said.”You have to walk that fine line.”