Former Philadelphia Eagles assistant disapproves of Carson Wentz criticism

It’s safe to say that, as long as there’s no Philadelphia Eagles game to watch, Birds fans all over the Delaware Valley and those all over the rest of the country will be paying more attention to Indianapolis Colts games in 2021.

Who are we kidding? What Eagles fan hasn’t been watching the Colts since Frank Reich took over as head coach?

Here’s some rather recent Philadelphia Eagles history.

The 2021-2022 season adds another dynamic to Birds football, as you know. Not even two years after signing Carson Wentz to a four-year, $128 million contract extension with $107 million guaranteed, one that was supposed to keep him under contract with Philly through the 2024 season, the man formerly known as ’11’ was traded in March to the Colts.

It feels like that was two years ago, doesn’t it?

Wentz’s success ensures that a conditional second-round pick the Eagles acquired in the deal becomes a first-rounder in 2022, which would give the Philadelphia Eagles three of them, so Birds fans have some vested interest in seeing the Colts do well. The problem is no one has forgotten about how poorly he played in 2020.

This should be a bounceback year right? After all, Wentz never looked better than when he had Frank Reich as his offensive coordinator. Their reunion could lead to a resurgence, and that’s what some are expecting. As a matter of fact, Reich seemingly can’t understand where some of the doubt comes from.

The former Philadelphia Eagles assistant defends the former franchise QB.

Who are we kidding? The natural response, whenever we all see something like this, is to say things like “Who cares? Carson Wentz and Frank Reich are gone. Why are we still talking about them?”, but whenever a former coach says or does something, Birds fans take a peak. Whenever a former Eagle is playing, especially if he’s playing well, we all watch.

If a former Philadelphia Eagles assistant is talking about a former quarterback, especially if that quarterback played poorly, lost his job, and ran for the hills, it’s almost impossible not to pay attention.

On the third Monday of our great nation’s fifth month, one in which Philly upgraded their defensive line with the addition of Ryan Kerrigan, Reich spoke with Around the NFL Writer Kevin Patra, and Philly’s former offensive coordinator had much to say about a man who’s both his former and current signal-caller.

"I just cringe when I hear stuff like that. (It’s) not that a player shouldn’t be accountable for poor play on the field. Carson has to answer to that, and he has answered to it. Until you get out there and prove otherwise, that’s what you live with, but I just know that playing the position of quarterback, there are so many factors that go into it."

Reich continued his thought with some pretty complimentary words about his new QB1.

"We talked about why the poor play last year, I’m just very confident that he has a team around him. It’s just I think the culture fit. You guys know how I feel about the Eagles, how highly I feel about that organization, but sometimes in sports, this is one of those transitions I think it’s going to end up being good for both organizations. I think it’s going to be good for Carson. I think we got to be patient with it. I think it takes a little bit of time, just like it took Philip (Rivers) a minute and Jacoby (Brissett) a minute, but I’m confident that we got the right player."

Again, Wentz’s best season as a professional came with Frank Reich as his offensive coordinator. He appeared in and started 13 games for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017 before being injured (you all know the story well).

Wentz completed 60 percent of his passes and threw for 3,296 yards and 33 touchdowns. Should Birds fans expect the guy they saw that year or the guy they saw in 2020? If you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan, hope for the former. A third first-round draft choice in 2022 depends on it.