When the Philadelphia Eagles take the field on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams, they could be without starting quarterback Carson Wentz. And according to reports, for the foreseeable future.
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson told reporters on Wednesday that the third-year quarterback is dealing with back spasms and will not take part in practice. He also said that the team would monitor Wentz’s injury throughout the week, before making a determination on if he will play on Sunday.
However, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported that the young signal caller is not expected to play this week, according to sources. The NFL insider added that the team is still gathering info on Wentz’s health and depending on the result, he could be done for the rest of the season.
If Wentz cannot go on Sunday night, then that means Nick Foles will be back under center for the Eagles. The reigning Super Bowl MVP started the first two games of the season and led the Eagles to a win in the regular season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.
He completed 65.6 percent of his passes for a touchdown and an interception in those two games. Coincidentally, Foles took over for Wentz, who suffered his season-knee injury last season when the Eagles played the Rams in Los Angeles.
From there, we all remembered how Foles finished the season and what he did in the postseason.
This is not the first time Wentz has been dealing with back issues over the course of the regular season. Pederson mentioned that he had been on the injury report before with it, which caused him to be limited in other practices.
Nevertheless, if Wentz’s back is really an issue, then there is no point of playing him for the rest of the season. The snake-bitten Eagles are not going to make the playoffs, despite what the scenarios say and if that’s the case, they may decide it’s better to shutdown Wentz and get him healthy ready for next season.
Wentz, who missed all of the preseason and the first two games of the regular season rehabbing from a knee injury, made his season debut in Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts. That knee injury sidelined him during the Eagles’ storybook Super Bowl-winning 2017 season and also put him out of the running for MVP Award consideration.
Wentz recorded 3.296 yards with 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions in just 13 games last season.
In 11 games this season, he’s completed a career-high 69.6 percent of his passes, with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions. However, he’s been sacked an enormous 31 times, which is the second-most of his short career. That hasn’t necessarily helped any sort of bumps and bruises picked up throughout the season.
His injury concerns mount further problems for Eagles management heading into the offseason. While they attempt to figure out how this team fell so far in just one year, an important topic of conversation will be whether to offer Wentz a new contract.
The 25-year-old is signed through the 2019 season, in which he’ll make $720,000.
