The Eagles are back at practice on Wednesday Jay Ajayi Jerseys Stitched , but before the team hit the field, head coach Doug Pederson stepped up to the podium to talk to the media. There are still a lot of question marks surrounding offensive player availability heading into the Week 4 matchup against the Titans, but it’s still a little too early in the week to get definitive answers.Here’s what the head coach had to say about getting Carson Wentz ready for his second game of the year, and how they are preparing for Tennessee.Injury updatesThe team is still waiting on one more test before determining the availability of Rodney McLeod, but they should have an answer by the end of the week. Alshon Jeffery is OFFICIALLY cleared for contact now, but the team still has to determine whether or not he’s ready to play on Sunday. Pederson said they have to see how he moves in practice and see where he’s at physically with all of his rehab, and that it’s important that they make sure that everything is right before they put him back on the field.Running backs Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles are both feeling good, but the team won’t know until later in the week if they’ll be ready to get back in the mix against the Titans.On Titans prepPederson wouldn’t get into details about the workload that Jeffery would get if they did let him play, and wouldn’t comment on whether or not they’d ease him back into the offense. (Game-planning Doug is mysterious, and I respect that.)Getting Jeffery back should be a boost to the team and would allow for some different game planning as a guy who often draws double coverage.If Sproles is back on Sunday, he’ll be back to fielding punts Youth Dallas Goedert Jerseys , but if he can’t go that job will still be with Corey Clement. Pederson quipped, “Have you ever tried to catch a punt in the rain?” when talking about their confidence in Clement on punt returns after the Colts game.Even as the Eagles get some of the offensive pieces back, there is still going to be room for improvement and time for development. It’s not going to be them picking up right where they left off last year, that’s just not realistic. Pederson expects things to come into focus for Carson Wentz more this week, and the more reps and more time he’s out there will help him improve, and the game itself will slow down.In what the head coach is expecting from Wentz this week, he noted that he wants the QB to improve incrementally, more attention to detail and to work through his progressions. Most of all just letting the game slow down a little bit, which should be much easier this week without all of the emotions about his first game back in front of a home crowd.Pederson was also asked what he thought of Titans QB Marcus Mariota, and the head coach acknowledged he really liked him coming out of college. He pointed out Mariota’s athleticism, attention to detail Dallas Goedert Jerseys Stitched , his work ethic and intelligence, and that he’d flourish in the right system — which he seems to have found in Tennessee.He continued to talk about how Mariota can be dangerous outside the pocket and throws a really good ball.On Fletcher CoxPederson lauded the defender for setting lofty goals like winning Defensive Player of the Year, and pointed out Cox is one of the players who could work to actually make it happen.He also noted that Cox’s maturity and taking on more responsibility has led to him taking onmore of a leadership role with the team this season.On roughing the passer penaltiesThe officials have a tough job deciphering some of the rule changes.As a former QB it appears that some of those are good, clean hits, but he ultimately doesn’t make those decisions, so you just have to accept that something like that is going to happen. He said those penalties are things they’ll need to learn from. Several things to think about."The Philadelphia Eagles held their mandatory pre-NFL Draft media availability on Tuesday. Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas spoke to reporters and gave away all the secrets they’ve been working very hard to protect. They actually told the media who they’re going to draft with all of their picks.Just kidding, obviously, but Roseman and Douglas did say a few things that caught my attention.The Eagles continue to express their commitment to Carson WentzThe Eagles haven’t signed Wentz to an extension just yet but it seems like only a matter of time until it happens.Bad news for the first round cornerback truthersEarlier this offseason, Roseman had the following to say about the Eagles’ cornerbacks:Douglas echoed that sentiment on Tuesday.Now, you could suggest the Eagles are merely setting up a #smokescreen to hide their intentions to draft a corner. Given their roster construction, it seems much more likely that they aren’t going to invest a first-round pick in that position. Maybe they address corner on Day 2 or Day 3 Youth Isaac Seumalo Jerseys , sure, but not Day 1.Part of the reason the Eagles like what they have at corner is because they’re seemingly still high on 2017 second-round pick Sidney Jones.Jones has failed to make an impact to this point in his career. He’s only played in 28% of possible games over the last two seasons. At the same time, he’ll only be turning 23 years old next month in May. Jones is younger than some corner prospects in the 2019 NFL Draft, such as Penn State’s Amani Oruwariye. 2019 is a big year for Jones and a lot of the young guys the Eagles have at corner. There’s pressure to step up and prove themselves. It’s interesting to see how the Eagles view Nate SudfeldThe Eagles didn’t acquire Sudfeld through the draft; they originally signed him to their practice squad after Washington cut him in 2017. Since then, they’ve treated him like a legitimate developmental quarterback. They promoted Sudfeld to the active roster in 2017 when the Colts tried to sign him two years ago. This offseason, they gave him a second-round tender worth over $3 million to likely replace Nick Foles as Carson Wentz’s primary backup. The Eagles will obviously hope Sudfeld doesn’t have to play this year because they want Wentz healthy. If he is forced into action, though, Sudfeld will have a chance to prove he was worth developing.It’ll be interesting to see if the Eagles start another developmental project considering Sudfeld is set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2020. Philly recently signed former AAF quarterback Luis Perez so maybe he’s the guy. But maybe they still draft a quarterback during Day 3.There’s no need to draft for needThis is something the Eagles say every year. I wrote the following last April and it still applies:While the Eagles won’t solely be drafting for need, there are some positions they should address at some point. Those include defensive line, running back, and safety.The allure of trading upBack at the NFL owner meetings Isaac Seumalo Jerseys Stitched , Jeffrey Lurie talked about how the Eagles believe in drafting in volume. Essentially: the more picks, the better. But there is a time for trading up. If you have the opportunity to get a true difference maker, you might just have to be aggressive in order to get that guy. Such a strategy has worked for the Eagles in the past. They traded up for guys like Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, and even Dallas Goedert last year. Trading down isn’t always a great thing. The Eagles moved down in 2014 because none of their preferred players made it to where they were picking. Instead of moving up for someone they really liked, they ended up with a total bust in Marcus Smith.This isn’t to suggest trading down is always the wrong move. It’s just that there is an allure to moving up and it might be something the Eagles are considering this year. We’ll see.