Should Philadelphia Eagles keep Carson Wentz out of Preseason?

Should the Philadelphia Eagles wait until the regular season to debut Carson Wentz in 2019?

What’s the point of the NFL Preseason? Is it for veteran starters to get their feet wet, and get in some real-time practice reps before the real deal happens? Or is it for the younger guys, and some journeymen veterans trying to make the team? For a long time now, the four weeks have been all about the latter. Sure, starters get a quarter or two during the ‘dress rehearsal’ in week three, but for the most part, Preseason has become tryouts for the roster hopefuls.

The Philadelphia Eagles recognize this to a certain extent. On Thursday for the first game of the preseason, the Eagles were without a lot of their key starters. The offensive line was all backups, while Carson Wentz and the starting wide receivers were in street clothes as well. It was assumed that Wentz would miss the first game, but play in the next two — but is that even a good idea at this point? Let’s think about it for a second…

Over the last two seasons, Wentz struggled to finish the year out because of injuries. While many blame the first injury for the cause of the second injury, it still doesn’t change the fact that the Eagles franchise quarterback has his fair share of struggles with remaining healthy. With Nick Foles backing him up, the Eagles were comfortable with leaving Wentz sidelined.

As Foles is no longer here though, the Birds would have to rely on Nate Sudfeld. So in an attempt to see what the Eagles have in their new No. 2, things went South. Sure, Sudfeld shined on Thursday — but his big night was outshined by an unfortunate injury, which occurred on a cheap shot. Now, Sudfeld’s 2019 season is mostly in jeopardy.

Should that worry the Eagles?

The Eagles didn’t lose their starting quarterback to injury on Thursday night — but it felt a lot more significant than it normally would for any other team. Seeing as though the backup QB has been so crucial as of late, it’s definitely a severe loss for the Eagles as they would now have to lean on the third-string quarterback if Wentz goes down again (knock on wood).

So that now raises the question: Should the Eagles even play Carson Wentz in the preseason? Knowing that roster hopefuls are taking their play over the top to try and stand out, causing unfortunate injuries, it might not even be worth playing the starter at this point. The Eagles are in win-now mode as they made win-now moves in the offseason.

Losing the starting quarterback could completely derail this season before it even starts, unlike previous years. While the preseason reps could be somewhat useful as the Wentz and his weapons could get a good feel for the game — it just doesn’t seem all that worth it at this point. Wentz is an experienced passer in the regular season. Therefore, the meaningless snaps should be left to the backups this year.