7:45pm: As Holder reports, Wentz was at practice today with no protection on his foot and no obvious limp. Reich called Wentz’s outlook “very encouraging,” and regardless of how the Ehlinger/Eason battle plays out, it doesn’t sound like either young passer will be holding the reins too long.
12:32pm: The Colts have thus far opted against acquiring a veteran to run their offense while Carson Wentz rehabs, and the team will begin giving rookie Sam Ehlinger a longer look to fill the post.
Ehlinger has worked his way into the mix here, with Frank Reich indicating Tuesday (via The Athletic’s Stephen Holder, on Twitter) the sixth-round pick has looked good enough in practice to split first-team reps with Jacob Eason. Eason will start the Colts’ first preseason game, but Reich adds (via ESPN.com’s Mike Wells, on Twitter) the second-year QB and Ehlinger will split starter reps in the team’s joint practices against the Panthers on Thursday and Friday.
While Ehlinger has outplayed Eason during Colts camp, this does mark a bit of a change from the team’s view of its current quarterback situation. Reich said last week Eason would remain in the driver’s seat for the role, despite Ehlinger impressing early. Now, the two appear to be in a true competition.
A four-year starter at Texas, Ehlinger was the 10th quarterback off the board this year. The No. 218 overall pick does bring considerably more game work than Eason, who transferred from Georgia to Washington but declared for the draft after one season as the Huskies’ starter. Ehlinger threw 1,476 passes with the Longhorns. Eason, Georgia’s primary starter in 2016, attempted 782 in college. The latter, however, was viewed slightly better through an NFL lens and became a 2020 fourth-round pick. Eason has yet to take a snap in a game, with the COVID-19 pandemic nixing last year’s preseason slate and Philip Rivers and Jacoby Brissett ahead of him on Indy’s 2020 depth chart.
This year’s Colts QB hierarchy may involve Wentz in the not-too-distant future. Initially given a vague five- to 12-week timetable to recover from foot surgery, Wentz will be re-evaluated in two weeks, per Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer, who adds the Colts are expecting him to return on the front end of this timetable (video link). As of now, the team envisions its preferred starter to be back early in the season.
The Colts could stash Wentz on IR to start the year, carrying him onto their 53-man roster and parking him on the injured list for at least three weeks. However, Wentz hitting the front end of his rehab timetable would likely induce the Colts to keep him on their active roster and play this week-to-week.
Summary of the AFC South
Jags: are still the Jags
Colts: Solid players but broken QB
Houston: We have a major problem
Tenn: good to great O, bad D.
Sounds about right?
Yeah, that about covers it. Ironic for Tennessee.
I’m still trying to figure out how the team with the league’s leading rusher finished 28th in time of possession.
I didn’t know that! Good piece of trivia.
@crosseyedlemon
It’s a combination of a defense that couldn’t seem to get off the field and an offense that relies more on big plays than you might think
It’s a curious oddity because normally teams with a top bell cow rusher aren’t ranking that low in possession time.
Offense so good that they score quickly?
Well, Henry did bust a 99 yard’er vs the jags!
Tennessee will be better defensively this year. The addition of Jones along with Brown at the other WR spot and that run game is gonna make that O stronger… I don’t care how “good” the kid QBs in Indy look in camp, I see that as their one key weakness and an opening for the Titans,
Arty-you forgot 1 major factor; Colts defense. Might be the best in the league, easily the best in this division. Also a great OL & running game; all the QB has to do is throw about 15 passes/game & not turn the ball over.
A splashy offseason QB acquisition gets injured and an under the radar 6th rounder taking over? Psh, like that would ever work out…
Bledsoe had started for the team eight years and was decent. He wasn’t a flashy offseason acquisition.
A. Bledsoe had just signed his massive contract that offseason and that’s what I meant.
B. Wentz did contribute to a Super Bowl win. I would call that, at the very least, decent.
C. Lighten up a little…I wasn’t being too serious.
I didn’t mean to imply that Wentz wasn’t decent, just that Bledsoe was actually good. The Pats for most of those years weren’t a perennially elite team, despite some success (notably their Super Bowl loss). I just don’t consider Bledsoe a flashy acquisition since he was already part of the team.
I didn’t mean to come off as cantankerous. I apologize if I did.
Eason has a great arm, but I think Ehlinger’s starting experience will edge him out in my personal opinion. Ehlinger I think had more responsibility at Texas in his starting role than Eason did at Washington from what I saw, which would make him more suited to start. I could be wrong of course, but I like Ehlinger over Eason for the starting job. If he does win, it’d be too bad that the Colts don’t play the Browns this year.
If the Colts need a miracle comeback, who better than Frank Reich to get behind center?
Peyton is officially in the HOF now. Would only be mildly shocked if he became the first player to return after being inducted.
Go Longhorns!
Free Sammy!
Considering the injury history for Wentz, a proper in-camp QB competition could be the next best thing to happen for the Colts. Get decent reps for both guys, you may need both of ’em.
he’ll be injured again before the end of camp
And Colin pumpernickel still without a job this is a travesty
NO WORRIES
Colts GM purchased an item for $.75 at Dollar General.
Gave the cashier a Dollar.
Got a QUARTERBACK !!
Wentz has had his share of injuries but I’m not ready to cast him off just yet he looked really really good for a good run there for awhile. A lot of money and draft capital invested in a guy who’s had some success just to cast him off so quickly
Anybody else ready for the return of Andrew Luck?