Wentz says he just wants to get healthy
Played most of year on broken back
PHILADELPHIA >> Carson Wentz didn’t say a lot about his injured back Monday, and it spoke volumes about where the Eagles’ quarterback is at this critical time of his career.
Teammate and close friend Zach Ertz helped fill in the blanks. Ertz suggested that Wentz would follow the lead of oft-injured Andrew Luck and change his style of play. Luck and Ertz were best buds at Stanford.
What we know for certain from a media availability Monday was that Wentz conceded the broken bone in his back hasn’t completely healed after four months of recovery, and isn’t going to rush into organized team activities.
“It’s still getting there,” Wentz said. “Some of the stuff just takes time but that’s not the main concern. It’s just kind of how I feel and we’re pretty good with where I’m at.”
Wentz understandably declined to say exactly where he was physically other than being able to run and throw during offseason workouts.
Meanwhile Ertz attempted to describe how tough it’s been for Wentz, who was shutdown with a stress fracture in his back after guiding the team to a 5-6 record last season.
“Obviously he’s been one of the most dynamic players in the league when he’s healthy,” Ertz said. “Was he 100 percent last year? Absolutely not. The guy had a broken back early in the year. We don’t — I don’t know if he knows exactly when it happened or whatnot. But he’s just trying to prove to be he can be the best quarterback he can be for this organization.”
Later Ertz dropped the name of Luck, who completely changed his style of play last season with the Colts. Luck threw short passes, avoided hits and for the first time in three years, played a complete
season.
Including the playoffs, Wentz has missed 13 games the past two seasons.
“He’s working extremely hard to get healthy,” Ertz said. “But honestly, he can’t really control most of these injuries. A broken back? He doesn’t even know when it happened. So, it will be tough for him to like change, really. He’s a really competitive guy. I’m sure as he goes on, just like my great friend Andrew Luck learned to kind of slide at times or do whatever he’s doing now to stay healthy, he’ll learn.”
Ertz put the exclamation point on that quote saying Wentz has “a chip on his shoulder, for sure.”
The Eagles don’t need Wentz to dominate in OTA’s or minicamps. They need him to be there. And that could make the Eagles’ bid to lock him up to a contract extension rather tricky.
Wentz and Jared Goff, the Los Angeles Rams quarterback chosen ahead of him in the 2016 draft, are represented by Bruce Tollner. It’s hard to fathom Tollner doing one contract without the other assuming, of course, that both quarterbacks stay healthy.
“Hearing that, it’s exciting just the idea of being here long term,” Wentz said. “I love it here. I love this city. I love the fans here. But the specifics of all that, I’m not going to dive into them. My agent will handle all of that fun stuff.
“First and foremost, I just want to get healthy. I want to get healthy and put everything behind me.”
The Eagles were 5-6 when management shut Wentz down last season, citing medical opinions. In spite of the record, Wentz threw 21 touchdown passes against seven interceptions and had a 102.2 passer rating.
Wentz set a franchise record with 33 TD passes during the Super Bowl season, one in which he tore an ACL in Game 13. The Eagles were 11-2 in Wentz’s starts. That’s kind of what Ertz meant when he said Wentz had a chip on his shoulder.
“I think being in this city long enough, we all have a chip on our shoulder,” Ertz said. “It’s just the personality that you take playing in this city. I think the city as a whole, the city of Philadelphia has a chip on their shoulder. And I think it’s a good thing. I think you’re always going to be hungry. I know he’s extremely motivated to be the best quarterback he can be. Two years ago, he was playing at an MVP level. He probably should have won the MVP that year even though he missed the last couple games. He really did build the foundation of this team.
“That year when we were so successful he was the reason why we got the first-round bye. So, I’m sure his goals are to be even better than that. And last year he probably in his eyes he wouldn’t say he was at that level just because of everything that was going on.”
Everything, by the way, included coming off of knee surgery. It didn’t exactly help Wentz get ready for the season.
“Obviously, a knee injury rehab is aggressive and it’s not fun for anybody,” Wentz said. “This back injury is not fun either but it’s a different thing. I definitely feel better with where I’m at, both physically, mentally, all of the above. Like I said, I’m really excited and it feels like the first day of school a little bit.”