One of Carson Wentz’s former teammates believes the Eagles were very easy in the quarterback season in an effort to protect their ego.
Malcolm Jenkins played with Wentz for four seasons in Philadelphia before spending the past year with the Saints, but kept an eye on the terrible season in Philadelphia and Wentz.
“As a teammate and friend of Carson, I think it always starts with performance, and he didn’t live up to everyone’s expectations for him,” Jenkins shelp Friday at “The Rich Eisen Show.” “I don’t think he would say that he met his own expectations, but some of the other problems I felt when I was in the locker room was that there was a lot of room for maneuver and that didn’t make him a player.”
Wentz played badly enough to be replaced by second-round Jalen Hurts, who started the team. Still, the Eagles finished 4-11-1, and coach Doug Pederson was fired after the season.
Wentz’s status is unclear before the off-season, as he still guarantees about $ 70 million in his contract.
As bad as Wentz played, Jenkins – who won the Super Bowls in Philadelphia and New Orleans – also blamed the Eagles’ coaching staff.
“I don’t think they did him any favors trying to … protect his ego or really trying to protect him as a player instead of – just like any other player – keeping it performance-based and being real about what he needed to do. improve, ”said Jenkins. “But also adjust to put it in places that can make it successful. This is a little on the coaching staff and a little on the player ”.
The Eagles recently hired Nick Sirianni to replace Pederson and Sirianni said during his introductory press conference he “cannot answer” if Wentz will remain with the Eagles.
“What we need to do is evaluate the entire squad,” said Sirianni. “We have two quarterbacks in Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts who are first-rate quarterbacks. Many teams have none. So, I’m really excited to work with both. Nick Foles did the same thing in 2017-18 and took the Eagles to a Super Bowl championship
Jenkins noted that Hurts was able to “ignite a little energy in the team – and this is not the first time this has happened to a reserve quarterback, obviously in Philadelphia – so it’s one of those things where something has to change. If you put this burden on the coaching staff or the players who are there, I mean, obviously, there will be a lot of work to be done there. “