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Carson Wentz out for Season? Relax

Carson Wentz injury
Tom Colton via Flickr

NFL

Eagles’ Quarterback Carson Wentz is Questionable for Week 15 Matchup with Rams, Could be Out for Rest of the Season

News broke early Wednesday that Carson Wentz would not participate in practice on Wednesday thereby making him questionable for Sunday’s primetime game against the L.A. Rams. Ironically, the same team who handed Wentz a season-ending knee injury last year.

The team cited Wentz’s back as the area of injury. Concerns spilled out of the NovaCare Center that Wentz would miss not only Sunday’s game but the rest of the season.

Context is Key

Risk & Reward

This injury is not severe, and this news should not come as a shock. The Eagles’ narrow window to the playoffs has all but closed. They would not only need to win out but also need several other teams to lose; considering their strength of remaining schedule, this is practically impossible.

Putting your team’s best asset, Carson Wentz, on the field to risk injury when he doesn’t need to, under no circumstances is wise. Benching Wentz isn’t “giving up,” it’s moderating the franchise’s risk with no available reward.

Additionally, the injury to his back has practically no correlation to the knee injury he suffered last year. When Wentz came back in Week 3, having been cleared by the medical staff, he was ready to play. The team would never have pushed him to play sooner than he needed to just to avoid falling to 1-3. Even if they had pushed him to play too soon, there’s no clear connection to the current injury or soreness to his back.

This Was Bound to Happen

Since the early weeks of the season, Wentz has been noted as either limited in participation or no participation at all in practice, due to soreness in his back. There may have been weeks prior where he should have sat more than he did, but didn’t in attempts to keep the season alive.

There was not one moment in the game against Dallas where his back was postured in an awkward way. Nor was there a hit that kept him from playing at a consistent pace. This was an ongoing problem that potentially escalated.

The Eagles’ offensive line has allowed 89 QB hits this year, Wentz being the target of most of those hits. Several times this season, Wentz took ten hits a game. No quarterback in the NFL can take that many hits and not sustain injury. In fact, the team is lucky this is all it is.

Whether it was the play calling, offensive scheme, or Wentz being unfamiliar with new personnel, he consistently held onto the ball too long. This left Wentz vulnerable to take more hits as well. While Wentz didn’t sustain a huge blow at any point in the season, the consistent hits to his body at some point were going to take their toll.

Blessing, Not a Curse

If Wentz does sit out for Week 15, and potentially the rest of the season, a few things happen. First and foremost, Wentz is protected from injury, or further injury, if he isn’t playing. Second, the Eagles will likely not perform as well with Nick Foles under center which in turn improves their 2019 NFL Draft picks. Lastly, if Foles does perform well, it increases his trade value.

When Philadelphia decided to resign Foles rather than trade him after Super Bowl LII, they missed capitalizing off the height of his value. However, if Foles were to come out in Week 15 and finish the season strong, several teams around the league who are looking for a shot caller could be giving Howie Roseman a call.

The best thing the franchise can do is to begin the restructuring that needs to be done to make improvements for next year. The focus of the front office and coaching staff should be on 2019. Some coaches and players may go, however protecting the cornerstone pieces which will return are paramount. Philadelphia is doing just that in potentially benching Wentz.

Photo Credit

Featured Image courtesy of Tom Colton

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