- The Indianapolis Colts could potentially be in bad shape if a foot injury to presumptive starting quarterback Carson Wentz is serious.
- The Colts acquired Wentz in the offseason after the retirement of 2019 starting QB Philip Rivers.
- Second string QB Jason Eason will move into the starting spot in Wentz’s absence.
Everyone knows that Carson Wentz is a good quarterback when he’s healthy. The problem is that he’s very seldom injury-free. His injury prone tendencies are well known around the NFL. The 28 year old Wentz has been in the league since 2016 and has only played a full season twice. In addition to a variety of other injuries he suffered a season ending torn ACL near the end of the 2017 season.
Indianapolis acquired Wentz in the off season after he was benched in favor of Jalen Hurts during his final year with the Philadelphia Eagles. Inexplicably, the Colts decided not to re-sign capable Jacoby Brissett to be Wentz’s backup deciding to metaphorically ‘roll the dice’ that he could remain injury free. Depending on the severity of Wentz’s latest foot injury they may have come up ‘snake eyes’. For now, he’s listed on the injury report as being ‘out indefinitely’ with a foot injury.
Wentz has seen a foot specialist and surgery is a possibility. Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network reported that the Colts are ‘taking solace in Week 1 of the regular season being six weeks away’ which isn’t an encouraging sign. Offensive coordinator Marcus Brady is running the team while head coach Frank Reich is out with COVID-19 and he didn’t give much clarity in his comments to the media:
“He’s with the docs, trying to figure what out the process is. Still evaluating what the next move is, how bad it is. Then we’ll go from there.”
ESPN is reporting that the Colts ‘do not consider this to be a season-ending injury’–which I guess is some degree of good news. Then again, it’s a vague diagnosis that covers a lot of ground. The problem for the Colts is that their best option for a starting quarterback should Wentz be out for an extended period is now wearing a Miami Dolphins’ jersey. That would be Jacoby Brissett, who Indy let walk and was quickly picked up by the Dolphins on a one year deal worth $5 million USD. With 2020 starter Philip Rivers now retired the Colts don’t have any stellar options for a starting quarterback.
The problem is that the three remaining healthy quarterbacks on the Colts’ depth chart all have talent and potential–but they don’t have single snap in the NFL between them. 23 year old Jacob Eason has been taking most of the reps in Wentz’s absence and quickly trying to get up to speed. Sam Ehrlinger–a rookie out of Texas–is next on the depth chart and behind him is Jalen Morton out of Prairie View A&M. Morton is a very sharp guy (majored in mechanical engineering) and has a Howitzer for an arm plus speed and athleticism. He was in camp with the Green Bay Packers last year but waived before the season began. He’s a project to be sure but has considerable upset. What he doesn’t have–like his teammates–is NFL experience.
Brady indicated that Eason is improving but from the sound of it he’s still got a ways to go:
“He’s getting better every day. Biggest thing, we want to continue getting him reps.”
Brady expounded upon his strategy for Eason on the Colts’ team website:
“(It’s) definitely going to get him more confidence because now he’s going to be able to envision these plays in his head, it’s going to make him think much quicker, it’s going to accelerate his vision. So it’s good that he’s going to be able to accumulate all these reps.”
It’s mind-boggling that the Colts are in this situation and the fact that they are falls on GM Chris Ballard. Even a novice fantasy football player knows that if a team has a starter with a history of injury that it is imperative that *someone* behind him on the depth chart have some manner of NFL experience. Eason was at least with the Colts last year nut that’s minimal consolation. Not that he practiced much with Rivers and Brissett ahead of him on the depth chart and no OTAs, minicamps and preseason games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
