Wentz still weighing options after returning to Colts from COVID-19 list
Carson INDIANAPOLIS —
Wentz sp e nt t hree days attending Zoom meetings and rehabbing his injured left foot at home.
The Indianapolis Colts quarterback also used the time to think about how to avoid another trip to the reserve/COVID-19 list.
On Thursday, Wentz returned to practice still unvaccinated but with a stronger commitment to the league’s safety protocols after he and two other starters were activated.
“I’ve weighed a lot of things, I’ve factored in everything,“he said. “I know what’s at stake, I know all of those things and like I said, it’s just where I’m at, where I’m at with my family. That’s why just understand- ing the protocol to truly try everything we can to avoid what happened this week,
it is what it is. The protocols are in place. So we’ve got to honor them as best we can so we can avoid what hap- pened.“
This was a big week for Wentz — for all the wrong reasons.
Coach Frank Reich announced he wanted to test Wentz’s foot to see if it
could withstand the rigors of an NFL game. The plan was to use Wentz at all four work- outs without limitations for the first time since he had a bone fragment removed Aug. 2.
Instead, team officials were forced to revise the schedule when Wentz, center Ryan Kelly and receiver Zach Pascal were deemed to be close contacts to someone who tested positive for the virus. Because league protocols require unvaccinated players to sit out — vaccinated players do not if they continue to test negative — a public debate ensued about Wentz’s vaccination status and that of the Colts, who have one of the league’s lowest vaccination rates.
What everyone wants to know now is whether Wentz will be the starter Sept. 12 against Seattle?
The answer might not come until next Thursday. Indy doesn’t practice again until Monday and Wentz hasn’t been full-go on con- secutive days since late July y. Reich is optimistic.
“He’s got to come back Monday, and if all goes well then he’ll go and Wednesday, and then we’ll see,“he said. “The only way that would be inhibited is if he couldn’t go Thursday.“