Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz cleared for 7-on-7 drills

Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson announced Wednesday that quarterback Carson Wentz has been cleared for 7-on-7 work this week during organized team activities.

Wentz sustained a torn ACL and LCL in a game against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 10. The injury relegated him to the role of a spectator during the Eagles' remaining run to Super Bowl LII.

"Part of the rehab process with him is just giving him a little more -- I don't want to say freedom -- but a little more practice time," Pederson said. "One of the controlled environments that we can obviously put him in is a 7-on-7 situation. Being able to sprinkle him in and just watch him in more of an up-tempo type of a practice in those situations has been good.

"We'll continue to do that these next two days and next week, and just keep building as we go."

Pederson declined to say whether Wentz was ahead of schedule in his recovery, however.

"I'm not a doctor. I can't really answer that," Pederson said.

Pederson did tell reporters that he's "very pleased and very encouraged" by how all of the team's injured players have progressed over the course of the offseason.

Wentz was considered the front-runner for NFL Most Valuable Player honors before the injury and had to watch backup Nick Foles guide Philadelphia to a 41-33 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. Foles also won Super Bowl MVP honors.

The 25-year-old Wentz threw for 33 touchdowns in 2017 to move past Sonny Jurgensen for the most in a single season in franchise history, a record that stood since 1961. Wentz completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 3,296 yards with just seven interceptions in 13 games in 2017.