Wrong Message or Not, the Time has Come to Put Carson Wentz on Bench
Carson Wentz is the Eagles’ starting quarterback.
For better or worse.
Lately, it’s been a lot of worse, but, like a failing marriage, Doug Pederson will continue to cling to better, as in being better.
The head coach will not put him on the bench, at least not yet.
“Look, I think if you get to that spot where you don’t start him or you bench him, you’re sending the wrong message to your football team that the season is over,” said Pederson. “That’s a bad message. We have to work through this. When times get tough, sometimes that might be the easy thing to do.
“This business is about work, detailing, having ownership, things I talk about with the team. That’s what we gotta do. That’s coaches and players. That’s not one guy. This sport is bigger than one guy. We all have a hand in it, and we all have to fix it.”
Nothing is being fixed, though.
Each week it’s more of the same.
It’s time for either Wentz to have a seat, if only for a game.
Players say all the time, control what you can control.
Pederson, as far as we know, controls Wentz’s playing time.
Maybe GM Howie Roseman has the final voice in that, and he is the one who rewarded Wentz with a mega-million contract in the summer of 2019. He’s also the one who drafted Jalen Hurts, but signing off on benching the face of the franchise doesn’t seem like something Roseman would do.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and these Eagles, at 3-6-1, are desperate and facing a rugged stretch of games over the next month.
How many times can the Eagles continue to fall behind, to cease to score points in the first half of games? After getting no points in the first two quarters against Cleveland on Sunday, they now have averaged just 3.8 points in the first half of their last five games.
Something has to change, doesn’t it?
Is it really the wrong message to sit a struggling quarterback down, to give him a change of scenery, to let him catch his breath, if only for a game?
Other players are doing their job.
Wentz simply isn’t and it becomes more and more apparent each week, with the most recent example coming on Sunday in a 22-17 loss to the Cleveland Browns that left the Eagles sinking at 3-6-1.
The defense did its job. They gave up just 13 points to the Browns. They sacked Baker Mayfield three times and allowed only one offensive touchdown. Linebacker Alex Singleton posted his second straight double-digit tackle game, getting 11 of them with one sack and one fumble recovery.
The special team units did their job, getting a blocked field goal from Derek Barnett and Greg Ward averaging 8.0 yards on two punt returns.
Maybe there’s some frustration beginning to boil over.
Here’s defensive end Brandon Graham:
“I’m confident in whatever Coach wants to do, and whatever they figure out on the offensive side. That ain’t got nothing to do with us, other than we gotta keep on keeping it tight on defense.
“I know that Coach is going to make the right choice regardless of what happens. I know it means something to Carson. I know it means something to a lot of guys. Whatever it takes to get a ‘dub,’ we’re going to do … We’re going to support our teammates regardless of what happens.”
Say what you want about an offensive line that struggled once again, with Lane Johnson losing some one-on-one battles and Jason Peters getting beaten regularly, or the receivers who seem to struggle to get open against press coverage, the quarterback position is the one that all eyes focus on when things aren’t going well.
Wentz threw two more interceptions, and, while there were two touchdown throws, his 14 interceptions not only tie his career-high set in 16 games as a rookie but also leads the NFL. And, once again, he failed to post his first 100-point passer rating of the season. Those used to be fairly routine for him.
Not anymore.
The QB seemed to get a bit testy when asked what he thought of Pederson being asked about the possibility of being benched.
“The media, you guys can ask whatever questions you want,” he said. “I know that’s part of the deal. It’s always a scrutinized position playing quarterback and that’s what I signed up for when I came out and played quarterback going back to high school, so I can take it, I can wear it, it is what it is.”
After each loss, Wentz has taken to crediting the other team’s defense.
He takes his hat off to them.
That’s not going to cut it in this league, always giving credit to the other guy.
Sooner or later, he has to take responsibility. He has to be held accountable.
It won’t happen – as long as Pederson has anything to say about it.
“He’s the starter,” said Pederson. “No questions about it, he’s the starter.”
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