Ask Carson about Nick, he’ll talk about Nick and Nate. Ask Nick about Carson, he’ll talk about Carson and Nate.
Carson Wentz and Nick Foles love Nate Sudfeld and make sure they include him in every conversation about the Eagles' quarterbacks room.
Tonight, Sudfeld will get a long chance to show us why.
“Nate’s solid, Nate’s great,” Wentz said this week. “He plays a lot like Nick and I. We all kind of think similarly. He can really kind of do a little bit of everything, and he’s sneaky athletic too and can make some plays with his feet.
“I’m excited to see him live again and get a chance to start that game.”
Sudfeld, who was Foles’ backup in the Super Bowl, starts the preseason opener Thursday night against the Steelers at the Linc (see 10 players to watch).
A year ago, he was still a Washington Redskin. Now he’s everybody’s favorite third-string quarterback.
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“Nate has the potential and ability to be a starter in this league,” Foles said. “Since he’s gotten here, he continues to get better, he continues to excel, he continues to grow every single day. I expect him to start in this league.”
Sudfeld was the Redskins’ sixth-round pick in 2016 and spent his rookie year in Washington, but when they tried to sneak him onto the practice squad after last summer’s training camp, the Eagles snapped him up three days after releasing Matt McGloin.
He began last year on the Eagles’ practice squad, signed to the active roster in November and then spent the last two months of the season as Foles’ No. 2 after Wentz got hurt.
With Wentz still rehabbing and Foles out for the Steelers with neck spasms, Sudfeld should get a ton of playing time Thursday night.
“I feel like I’ve improved a lot,” Sudfeld said. “I’m proud to say I don’t feel like I wasted a single day. There’s not a day since I’ve been in Philadelphia where I feel like I haven’t gone to work with purpose and known what I’m trying to improve on, whether it’s physically, mentally, just the camaraderie.
“I feel like I’ve built something good. I’ve enjoyed the process, so I’m excited. I’m looking forward to getting into a rhythm, getting into a flow and hopefully making some big plays out there, just being a good leader and being controlled in the huddle.
“Practice, it’s, ‘Here’s the situation, here’s the situation,’ but in a game, you kind of go with the ebbs and flows of a game, and just going through that I’m really excited about it.”
Sudfeld and former Packer Joe Callahan will be the only Eagles quarterbacks in uniform against the Steelers. Sudfeld will likely get the first half and possibly part of the third quarter.
Sudfeld got into one game last year, the meaningless regular-season finale against the Cowboys.
He completed 19 of 23 passes, and his 82.6 percent accuracy is highest in NFL history by a quarterback in his first NFL game (minimum of 20 attempts) and fourth-highest by any QB in Eagles history.
The Eagles are very deep and talented at wide receiver, so even though Sudfeld will play most or all of the game with backups, they’re good players.
It’ll be interesting to see how far they’ve all come.
“We feel very deep, all the receivers across the board,” Sudfeld said. “The tight ends, the running backs and the offensive line, too.
“Fortunately for me, I’ve run with the 3’s, I’ve run with the 2’s, I’ve run with the 1’s, so that gives me a ton of confidence that I’ve thrown a route to basically every receiver we’ve got, so when I’m out there, I’ll know who’s good at what, where guys like to catch the ball, how to shape the throw, things like that.
“So it gives me a lot of confidence.”