By Patrick Del Gaone, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
After scoring ten offensive touchdowns in three victories to begin the year, the Eagles' offense hit a road block it has yet to surmount. In the ten games since, Frank Reich's unit has accumulated only 15 touchdowns, as the faltering team posted a dreadful 2-8 record during that stretch.
With much of the early-season success coming as a result of head coach Doug Pederson's steadfast dedication to the rushing attack, Reich was asked whether the now drastically disproportionate pass-run ratio is negatively affecting his first-year quarterback.
"You go in with the idea that we're gonna run 30-to-35 times [per] game," Reich said. "That's what you wanna do. But you have to make the calls at the time that you think are necessary to win the game. Everyone has a plan until they get in a fight and get hit around a few times. In the perfect scenario, do you wanna throw that many passes at the end of the year? No. Are there silver linings in it, in other ways? There are, there's no doubt. Carson's seeing a lot. He's seeing every kind of pressure, every kind of coverage. He's seeing what throws he can make, what throws he can't make. Those are all good things that I think are gonna help him in the long run."
Behind an offensive line ravaged by injuries, rookie Carson Wentz has withstood thunderous hits on a weekly basis since right tackle Lane Johnson's 10-game suspension began a domino effect of various disabilities along the offensive line. But the former Chargers' offensive coordinator attributes Wentz's continuous pounding to the team constantly playing from behind, as opposed to poor play from the hog-mollies.
"It's just the law of averages," Reich said. "I think we're in an acceptable range considering the circumstances we've had, considering our young quarterback. He's done a great job and I think the line's done a good job. You're gonna take hits [when] you throw it 40, 50 times in a game. Yeah, there is a correlation, we wanna minimize that as much as we can. It's one of the hazards of playing the position, and playing in a game when you get behind a little bit and have to play to win, because that's what we're doing each week."
Reich also elaborated on the challenges of game planning to overcome an injury-plagued offensive front.
"You can't play or think with one hand tied behind your back," Reich said. "We have a great offensive line coach in Jeff Stoutland and Eugene Chung, who helps him. We have a great group of offensive lineman, so I think we have a lot of depth. As we sit around game planning, do we think, hey, do we gotta give extra protection help? Do we gotta chip one side, or do we gotta help a guy in protection? Without question, those thoughts go through your mind. But… we have a lot of confidence in the players that we have. Even the young guys that get a chance to step in, they're proving why they're in the building, and it's helping us build depth at that position."
You can watch the full press conference from Reich and Schwartz below.
