We'll begin here, because that's the narrative on this day when quarterback Carson Wentz is sitting with the reporters who cover the Eagles daily, and as much as Wentz only wants to look forward – and that's a lot – he's still answering questions about the past. And those questions largely start and stop with injuries that prematurely ended his 2017 and 2018 seasons.

What has, the question is, the mental hurdle been like to overcome in relation to the physical rehabilitation that came with the injuries? Was it, in fact, a larger challenge mentally?

"At times, you could say that. Obviously, physically, last year just looking at the knee, and everything about the knee (2017 injury) and I'm back there (in the pocket) wearing the brace, getting used to that and everything about that. It was a different element than coming back from a back injury (2018), from the training and the recovery the more 'unknown' type of thing," Wentz said. "The mental side of it, I think for me, the journey I've been on, ending the last two seasons on the bench and everything that's come with that, from the criticism, from everything about it, has allowed me to just kind of find freedom in this game again and not press and not put so much pressure on myself and let the stress just kind of fade away and just go play."

That's what Wentz wants. He wants to "just go play." But injuries the last two seasons took away his "play" and, yeah, Wentz admits, he started to press and the game was "more stressful." The back injury last season, Wentz said, gave him chance to step back and embrace his faith and "see a bigger picture."

OK, so there's that. That's the past. The injuries and the criticism – all of that is in the past. Wentz said he started to "hear those voices a little bit" and he "let it all go."

So, Wentz is "free." That's his word. He's looking forward, and he sees a bright, wonderful picture.

Wentz keeps using the word "excited." He's "excited" to see what a high-octane Eagles offense can accomplish in 2019. He is "excited" to get back on the field, starting Sunday against Washington at Lincoln Financial Field, as the team's starting quarterback. He knows the entire team is "excited" to see how it all comes together after a busy-as-can-be offseason that saw the team address every nook and cranny of the roster and build enviable depth and talent.

Excited. Exciting. Excitement.

It all starts against the NFC East-rival Redskins and it represents a new beginning for Wentz and the reloaded Eagles, a team that won a playoff spot in 2018 in the season's final week and then won at Chicago before narrowly losing at New Orleans. For Wentz, who missed that stretch run after landing on the Injured Reserve list in December, the kickoff to '19 just can't come quickly enough.

"I think we're all excited. You know, I think it's been a long offseason as it always is," Wentz said. "And you know, not fully having all the ones (starters) out there in the preseason, I think we're all just really chomping at the bit to get out there Week 1 at the Linc. And I think everyone's really excited because we know we have a lot of talent, we know we have the ability to do something special, but it's going to take us executing, putting it together on the field. So that's really the word I for me personally, and for this whole thing.