Wentz Reiterates Week 1 Goal

PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) - The narrative from the NovaCare Complex has been consistent.

The Eagles expect Carson Wentz to be ready for Week 1 of the 2018 NFL season and the quarterback himself reiterated that while appearing on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football" on Monday.

“Rehab has been great,” Wentz insisted during the appearance. “It’s quite the process. It can be painful some days. But so far everything is going well. My goal is to be back for Week 1.”

Week 1 for the Super Bowl champions is Sept. 6 against the Atlanta Falcons and Wentz tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee on Dec. 10 of last year against the Los Angeles Rams.

"If just the ACL is damaged, recovery for an elite athlete who can focus on recovering (rather than having to go to work and rehab in the evenings) can be as short as six months," Dr. Andreas Gomoll, a sports medicine surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York and an Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Cornell Medical School, explained to 973espn.com back in February. "If other ligaments are damaged enough to require repair, such as the lateral collateral ligament (LCL), then recovery will be longer - closer to nine-12 months."

The timeline isn't quite Sophie's Choice but it almost assures the Eagles will be flying blind when it comes to Wentz at the start of the 2018 campaign.

When the regular season does roll around, the Eagles will likely have no idea where the second-team All-Pro QB really is because Wentz is not going to be doing much of anything in the offseason and it's doubtful he will be cleared to practice at any point during training camp.

Gomoll is not Wentz's surgeon of course so he can only offer an opinion on the reported information and the typical recovery time of top-tier athletes. Further whispers of meniscus damage for Wentz does not raise any red flags for Gomoll, however.

"Meniscus injury, while increasing the risk of arthritis later in life, doesn’t add much to the recovery, since most meniscus tears in these elite athletes are cleaned up, rather than stitched back together," Gomoll said.

Nine months from the day Wentz was injured would be Sept. 10, which is four days after the Falcons game.

Wentz, though, has steadfastly claimed he will be back for that contest and that continued on Monday.

"I feel really good and really confident for Week 1, " he said. ”... It’s a fluid process so you never know but I am doing what the doctors say and taking it step by step. There are times you feel great and you want to push yourself but you’ve got to stay the course with what the doctors are saying."

-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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