At the beginning of August, Carson Wentz had surgery on what Colts’ coach Frank Reich said was an ‘old injury’ where a broken bone came loose in Wentz’s left foot. Yeouch. At that time a timetable of 5-12 weeks for his full recovery was offered to the press. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen both Jacob Eason (a fourth round pick in 2020) and Sam Ehlinger (a sixth round pick in 2021) sharing first-team reps in practice and both had a chance to showcase their talents in the Colts’ first preseason game against the Panthers this past Sunday.
Both QBs showed promise and ability in the win against Carolina, throwing for a combined 338 yards passing but no TDs in a game where most of the points were from field goals. Eason had a fumble that looked preventable and Ehlinger threw an interception directly into coverage, so neither QB had a stunning performance to start out the season. Thankfully for the Colts, this may be a short-lived controversy as Wentz is already back at practice without a boot. Quenton Nelson as well, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.
I think the tea leaves are predicting that Wentz will start week 1 for the Colts, which definitely returns some value to the rest of the offensive starters in Indianapolis. This one is a sigh of relief. But will Wentz’s previous inconsistencies disappear after moving from the East Coast to the Midwest? That remains to be seen.