Trusted NFL voice nails it on Philadelphia Eagles, Carson Wentz stance

Philadelphia Eagles fans just can’t stop talking about Carson Wentz.

Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? It’s been a strange season for the Philadelphia Eagles. The man everyone saw as the franchise, Carson Wentz, led the Birds as their starter during the first 12 games of the season. The result was three wins and a tie that were sprinkled into a lot of losses and some ugly on-field play. The incumbent and rookie, Jalen Hurts, took over for 11 in Week 13 and hasn’t come out of the lineup since.

After providing a much-needed spark for the offense versus the Green Bay Packers, Hurts led the Birds to a Week 14 win at home versus the New Orleans Saints. Then, he and Philly’s offense gave the Arizona Cardinals all that they can handle in Week 15. They lost, but surprisingly, for the most part, Birds fans are in as good a mood as can be expected.

What might wind up being Carson Wentz’s final win with the Eagles, a 23-9 triumph over the hated Dallas Cowboys, didn’t feel like a win when we all woke up the following morning. Conversely, Week 15’s loss didn’t create the same anxiety that every other Eagles loss this season provided. See? It’s been a strange season in some respects.

Then, there’s this. On top of all that’s occurring, more drama surrounding 11 found its way into the media. Why does it feel like that happens every two or three weeks?

Peter King addresses the Philadelphia Eagles and Carson Wentz drama.

Before Jalen Hurts’ second start of the NFL season, stories leaked of Carson Wentz’s dissatisfaction with the quarterback current arrangement in Philadelphia. This guy really doesn’t get it, does he? No seriously, he thinks he hasn’t done anything wrong.

When we all woke up on Sunday and found our way to Twitter, there was a report by one of the NFL’s most trusted voices, Adam Schefter, and it claimed that 11 wanted out of the City of Brotherly Love. Now, had Jalen Hurts done that before a game we’d all been enraged. That’s another story for another day.

The point is this. Whether there’s any truth to Schefter’s report or not can be debated (another story by Mike Florio surfaced on the Monday following Week 15’s game that stated Wentz wants to stay in Philly), but come on. It’s Adam Schefter. We can trust him, right? Are we supposed to just listen to this and not think about all of the criticisms that we’ve heard about his leadership or what kind of a teammate he’s been?

Another of the NFL’s most trusted voices, Peter King, offered his own take in his weekly Football Morning in America column for NBC Sports. He too is concerned about the timing of the news. Isn’t his team in the middle of a playoff push? Why is this being brought up now?

"I think the most revealing piece of information in Adam’s Schefter’s Sunday report about Carson Wentz and his demotion in Philadelphia was this sentence: “Wentz is not pleased with the way events have unfolded in the organization.” Man, talk about being tone-deaf. Three reasons: Even if Wentz feels that way—and I trust implicitly that he does if Schefter reports it—it’s ridiculous if any reps or friends of the QB let that leak out. Wentz leads all quarterbacks with 19 giveaways this season. As NFL Media’s Bucky Brooks said Sunday, a starting quarterback job is not a lifetime appointment."

King’s third theory on Wentz’s actions needs to be digested as a standalone argument. Let this sink in for a few seconds.

"Wentz goes to the bench, his backup wins the biggest game of the Eagles season, and it comes out that ‘Wentz is not pleased with the way events have unfolded’. Well, the Eagles are not pleased that his TD-to-pick differential, plus-26 in 2017, is plus-1 this year, and his completion percentage is the worst in the league, and only Sam Darnold’s passer rating is lower. Of course, there are reasons, and the offensive line stinks, but (this is a) very bad look here. The only thing that minimized Sunday’s damage? Wentz was much involved on the sidelines in Arizona on Sunday, looking like he was helping Hurts."

There’s no nice way to say this. Carson Wentz has a captain’s patch on his chest. He needs to behave like one, and leaked stories about a pouting quarterback isn’t what his team needs at the moment. 11 is a very likable guy, but his thought process has to be questioned here. It’s hard not to think about all of the negative comments that have been made about him for almost three years now after all of this.