Eagles Try To Halt Skid Against Matured Carson Wentz, Vikings

PHILADELPHIA - Five years is a lifetime in the NFL, yet Carson Wentz left such an indelible mark on the Eagles' franchise as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft that Sunday's game between Wentz's Minnesota Vikings and his old team still has cachet in the City of Brotherly Love.

In his wake, Wentz left a complicated legacy in Philadelphia, with the highlight being his MVP-level play in the 2017 season that helped set the stage for the Eagles' magical Nick Foles-fueled postseason run, resulting in the franchise's first Super Bowl championship after Wentz suffered a season-ending knee injury in December.

For the majority of that season, Wentz was the best player on the best team in football, but he didn't handle the torn ACL and LCL well, especially after the Eagles persevered to win without him.

Wentz ultimately returned from the injury as a different player with slightly curbed athleticism. However, the North Dakota State product had trouble accepting the need to change his playing style.

He still had his moments as the Eagles' QB1 in the 2018 and 2019 seasons before injuries again appeared. Wentz suffered a stress fracture in his back in 2018, which resulted in another Foles postseason run and a serious concussion early in the playoffs against Seattle after the 2019 season ended that season prematurely.

Ups And Downs

Former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz (11). | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

By 2020, Wentz's tenure in Philadelphia was completely off the rails, especially after the Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts in the second round of the draft. Ultimately, Doug Pederson benched Wentz late in a disastrous season for the then-rookie.

By the spring of 2021, both Pederson and Wentz were out. There's been a lot of revisionist history since, and few remember when Nick Sirianni was hired, Plan A was to try to salvage things with Wentz, who essentially had already shut the door on returning and wanted a fresh start.

The Vikings are Wentz's fifth team in five seasons and perhaps his last opportunity to prove to NFL decision-makers that he's still a starting quarterback.

Poor play, coupled with an ankle injury suffered by J.J. McCarthy, opened the door for Wentz, 32, who has started the past three games for Minnesota, winning two of them. He was officially named the starter again on Friday.

Long term, Wentz's only way to stay on the field moving forward is to play at a consistently high level, and that continues Sunday against a 4-2 Eagles team looking to get right after a rare losing streak.

“Maybe earlier in my career maybe I had a different feeling,” Wentz told reporters on Wednesday when asked about playing against the Eagles. “But at the same time, you look over there, and I’m not even sure there’s anyone on the defensive side that I’ve played with. It just looks different. So it’s another opponent. A lot of respect for those guys. There’s still guys in that organization, there’s a lot of good people that I still have a lot of care for and respect for.

"But, at the same time, that feels like multiple lifetimes ago at this point.”

Now it's about handling a backup role that's turned into what's perceived as a placeholder while the Vikings figure out how to salvage McCarthy after passing on Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones, and Aaron Rodgers in the offseason.

“I approach it the same,” Wentz said. “I prepare, go through my routine, go through my, so to speak, program of how I watch film, how I study the plays, how I get ready, what I do later in the week, how I take care of my body. That doesn’t really change. So that’s the beauty of it. Quite frankly, having done both roles in my career so far, I have what works for me and what gets me ready to play, and that’s what I’ll be doing.”

A more mature Wentz has gained perspective from the ups and downs of his first professional job.

“I’m thankful for it,” Wentz said of his time with the Eagles. “They went and got me at a high pick, all the things, it was quite the roller-coaster over there. Winning the Super Bowl, even though I was hurt, right here in this stadium [Minnesota’s U.S. Bank Stadium]. I’m thankful for so many things. I grew up as a man. I got married, had a kid, while I was there. So there’s so many life changes that took place there. Grateful for my time there.

“Obviously, it came to an end rather abruptly. All the things — everybody knows all that. But I’m grateful for all the opportunities I had while I was there.”

Wentz, though, admitted that he needed the adversity to grow as a person and a player.

“Life is just different,” he said. “It’s one of those things. I don’t take things for granted, I have a different appreciation for things that maybe I wish I would have had a little different back then. But you live, you learn, and you grow, and that’s all you can do.”

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