Look who’s back: Wentz ready to return vs. Colts
PHILADELPHIA » Doug Pederson wants Carson Wentz to feel the emotion, not bury it in his first game in nine months when the Eagles entertain the Indianapolis Colts (1 p.m., Channel 29, WIP 94.1-FM) Sunday.
“I can talk to him until Sunday kickoff, and there is always going to be that high emotion, everybody’s anticipation of taking the field,” Pederson said. “You kind of want him to experience that and what that feels like. It’s kind of like his first start again from a couple years ago. It’ll be a good feeling. It’ll be good for our city. It’ll be good for the team obviously. I’m just looking forward to it.”
Wentz says his rebuilt left knee has been ready for a few weeks and that he expects to pick up where he left off last December. That’s when Wentz exited with a torn ACL and LCL after throwing his single-season club-record 33rd touchdown pass against the Los Angeles Rams at the Coliseum.
“I know once I’m out there, I’ll feel good,” Wentz said.
The Eagles are seven-point favorites over the Colts in the showdown of 1-1 teams. The Eagles are coming off a 27-21 loss in Tampa Bay with Nick Foles at quarter- back.
The Colts, coached by former Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich, broke into the win column with a 21-9 triumph at Washington. And yes, the familiarity Reich has of the Eagles, and vice versa, could be a factor at some point. “Could” is the operative word.
“My experience over and over again being in these situations is that it’s usually overplayed,” Reich said. “You give a couple nuggets and then you go play ball.”
The Eagles are shorthanded enough at wide receiver that they brought back Jordan Matthews to play this weekend. No one would be surprised if Alshon Jeffery marked his return to action, as well. The go-to receiver coming back from shoulder surgery is listed questionable.
Both teams are missing their starting running backs due to injury. Corey Clement, who had a solid game last week for the Eagles, is questionable with a quadriceps issue. Darren Sproles and Jay Ajayi are out.
The Eagles are leery of Andrew Luck, who despite coming off of serious shoulder surgery ranks sixth in the league with a 71.4 completion percentage. Luck has thrown a TD pass in 25 straight games, the longest active streak in the league. He has four TD passes and three interceptions this season.
“Obviously, we don’t want any touchdowns put up against us,” Eagles safety Rodney McLeod said. “We would like to have a shutout. But at the end of the day as long as we come out with the win that’s all that matters. He’s a very smart quarterback, a high percentage passer and I’m looking forward to going against him. I know he’s going to give us some good work and I know he’s going to bring his A game come Sunday.”
The same goes for Reich, who wasn’t the first choice for the Colts’ job, the nod going to Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel. Slowly but surely, Reich has begun building a culture modeled in part after the Eagles. Former Eagles linebacker Najee Goode, now a Colt, said Reich and Pederson share several similarities beyond careers as backup NFL quarterbacks.
Goode also weighed in on the offensive struggles impacting the Eagles.
“They’ve had some mishaps with some basics, and the thing is like they’ve had mishaps because, when I was there Carson threw 33 touchdowns, Foles was the MVP and it was bombs over Baghdad left and right,” Goode said. “The main thing we can see is they’re trying to get key players in the right places. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t happen.
“Against Atlanta they were able to run the ball at the end of the game and break off some of the bigger runs that they had that we did in the past when I was there. All of that comes along with learning in the first couple of weeks.”
Rasul Douglas, tied for the Eagles’ lead with one interception, says the Colts are killing it on third down, much like the Eagles did last season. The Colts lead the league with a 60.1 success percentage on third down through two weeks.
“They’re always in like third down and one or two,” Douglas said. “You don’t need to go for a home run on that. Luck is very smart. He went to Stanford. If you can throw it two yards to a guy who can make a guy miss and get more yards, I’m going to take it, too. He’s making smart throws”
Eagles pass rusher Brandon Graham, who is just about all the way back from offseason ankle surgery, is eager to play at the Linc. The Eagles are 16-3 at home since 2016.
Playing Reich is going to be a challenge.
“Man, we’ve got our hands full this week because we know they’ve game-planned for us and they’ve circled it on their calendar,” Graham said.
Graham also remembers that Reich rallied the Bills to the biggest comeback victory history in the NFL in January of 1993. Reich threw four TD passes to spark the Bills, who overcame a 32-point deficit, to a 41-38 win over the Houston Oilers in overtime.
Luck, coincidentally, pulled off the second-biggest playoff rally in NFL history as he guided the Colts, down by 28 points, to a 4544 win over Andy Reid and the Kansas Chiefs in January of 2014.
“Hopefully we don’t have any of that,” Graham said. “We’re just trying to go 1-0 this week.”