By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Ready or not, here he comes. Carson Wentz is going to start in the Eagles season opener next Sunday when the team hosts the Cleveland Browns.
But if you ask the rookie quarterback taken second overall by the Eagles, he's ready.
"The whole time, all along, it was just getting ready for whenever this time would come. I knew I was ready," Wentz said. "I knew I was taking the mental reps, even going into the first preseason, I felt very confident. I felt like I developed at a fast pace. And now it's here. I'm really confident in myself and confident in this team and I'm excited for it."
The speculation that Wentz was going to be named the starter started to take shape when the Eagles traded Sam Bradford on Saturday. Shortly after, reports started circulated that the team would hand over the reigns to Wentz. Wentz found out the news shortly after Bradford was traded as well, but was in an interesting place when the call came.
"I was actually laying in the middle of a cornfield hunting when that happened," Wentz said. "So I got the call, I was obviously very surprised but instantly I was really excited."
The main red flag surrounding Wentz is not a question of his mental preparedness or ability to adjust within the game or to the system. It's his health. Wentz played the second half of the Eagles preseason opener against Tampa Bay and suffered a hairline fracture to his ribs. Doug Pederson said early on Monday that Wentz was ready to go. Wentz confirmed that, saying he was officially cleared to play on Monday morning.
"We're good to go," Wentz said. "We're healed and we're ready to go."
One of the key adjustments for Wentz will be to the big stage of the NFL. The rookie will certainly face some adversity and growing pains at some point in his first year, but Wentz is certain that he can roll with the punches.
"That's the way life is. That's the way the game of football is," Wentz said. "Especially young quarterbacks usually experience bumps in the road and I'm just going to take them in stride. I'm going to learn from my mistakes and keep getting better and keep putting this team in good situations to win ballgames."
Sometimes being the starter, the player in charge of leading the offense, can bring added pressure. Wentz is not worried about his ability to deal with pressure or expectations.
"You inherit the pressure, I really just block it out," Wentz said. "It's just a game of football and I'm ready to go out there and play within myself, play within the system and really lead these guys. The pressure and all the outside things, it's just a game of football and that's how I view it."
Wentz also gets the responsibility to be a leader to the rest of the team and offense. The rookie quarterback came into Philadelphia after being drafted with a great sense of maturity and work ethic, and says that helped him earned the respect of teammates quickly.
"I feel, going back to even when I first got here, I feel like I've earned respect just how I go about my business, how I carry myself," Wentz said. "There's nothing different that I've got to do now. It's still football, I've got to just still be the same guy. I think those guys believe in me and I'm excited for it."
