INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts’ new quarterback, Carson Wentz, felt that the beginning of the end of his five-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles came when he was eliminated in his Week 13 game against the Green Bay Packers last season.
Wentz did not play another snap with the Eagles and two months later he was traded to the Colts for a choice in the third round in this year’s draft and a conditional choice in the second round in the 2022 draft. He hopes to be able to regain form in Indianapolis that made him an MVP candidate.
“I’m not going to embellish it – it wasn’t fun,” Wentz said on Thursday in his first comments since the negotiation. “It’s not fun when things have been going well for years and all those things. … As a man, you have to look in the mirror and learn from him and become a better man, a better player. It wasn’t fun, it was it was difficult, but I did everything I could to support Jalen [Hurts] and my teammates. “
Wentz was replaced in favor of rookie Hurts after he completed a 57.4% career drop, threw 15 interceptions and was fired 50 times last season. That was a dramatic drop for Wentz, who was in the race to win the MVP trophy before a torn ACL ended his 2017 season early.
Wentz also commented on Thursday that he was not a good teammate in Philadelphia.
“I learned that you are not going to make everyone happy,” said Wentz. “As much as you want, you can’t. It’s a pity that people have these opinions. I’m going to learn from this and try to be the best teammate I can be. If there are teammates I think I was not the best teammate I apologize, I wish I could do better. Last year was difficult for everyone ”.
Wentz, 28, did not say so, but made it clear that he and the Eagles had better go their separate ways, especially after it looked like the organization wanted to go with Hurts in the future.
“Many things in life that we cannot predict,” said Wentz. “A lot of crazy circumstances in which you expect things to happen. When you are called up in a place like Philly, you have a lot of expectations and everything, but obviously the year didn’t go as planned. Excited by this opportunity in Indy and be part of something special that has already been created here. “
Colts coach Frank Reich will play an important role in trying to put Wentz, the second overall choice in the 2016 draft, back on track. Wentz played only 16 games in the regular season just twice in his career due to injuries and the banks. There is also the mental aspect of where he is, because it was less than two years ago that the Eagles gave him a $ 128 million contract for four years.
Reich was Wentz’s offensive coordinator with the Eagles for two seasons, including in 2017, when the quarterback launched an Eagles franchise record 33 touchdowns and his total CBR of 78.5 was 18.7 points more than the rest of your career.
“It was natural to work with him for two years, not just on the personal side of things, we knew we had a great relationship with that, but the X’s and O’s of football,” said Wentz. “How we see the game and how we can have healthy discussions and disagreements, but really challenge ourselves and, in the end, become better. It was a lot of fun. This is something that makes me very excited, to be able to work with him again because I have the greater respect for the man he is, the friend he has also been and the coach he is also. “
The Colts need Wentz as much as he needs a familiar face like Reich. Wentz will follow Scott Tolzien, Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett and Philip Rivers as the team’s week 1 starter for the past five seasons. Indianapolis expects Wentz to end his revolving door as a quarterback that basically had Luck and Peyton Manning between 1998 and 2019, when Luck retired.
Reich, owner Jim Irsay and general manager Chris Ballard not only ended the relationship between Wentz and Reich before closing the deal. They wanted to make sure it wasn’t just another temporary control pattern in the franchise’s quarterback.
“I can’t emphasize how much I feel that Carson is the right man for the Colts right now,” said Irsay. “A lot has happened in the quarterback’s situation over the past three years. To get someone I really believe in after watching this game for 50 years, I really think he could be that guy who is the centerpiece and the guy who will be around closely with these teams that we set up in the next decade, which gives the Colts a chance for greatness. “