Carson Wentz

NFC East Notes: Giants, Manning, Eagles, Foles, Wentz

December 25th, 2018 at 8:57am CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Toward the beginning of the season, it seemed like a formality that Eli Manning wouldn’t be the Giants’ quarterback next year. The Giants were 1-7 and the season was circling the drain again, with Manning struggling heavily in his first year in Pat Shurmur’s offense. But the Giants then shockingly turned things around. They won four out of five games after that, znd very nearly pulled off a massive upset in Indianapolis this past Sunday.

Manning is suddenly having his best statistical season in many years, and his yards per attempt is the best it’s been since 2011. With all that’ happened, Manning won’t be getting any sort of send off this upcoming week in the Giants’ home finale, and fans shouldn’t write off Manning just yet, writes Ralph Vacchiano at SNY. The team isn’t planning anything special because they don’t view it as Manning’s last game as a Giant, and sources told Vacchiano that “it’s still more likely than not that he’ll be their starting quarterback again in 2019.” It’s a pretty surprising development, and it’ll be an epic comeback for Manning if he manages to hold onto the job for at least another year after his fate appeared all but sealed. With the Giants having won some games they’re no longer in a position to pick at the top of the draft, and the top quarterback or two could be gone by the time they’re up. What the Giants do at quarterback will surely be one of the most talked about storylines this offseason.

Here’s the latest from the NFC East on Christmas morning:

Speaking of the Giants, the team will likely be making a “series of roster moves” this week as the season winds down, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Daily News. Schwartz writes that the team isn’t going to officially shut down Odell Beckham Jr. yet and hopes that he can still return for Week 17, but several other players will be placed on IR. That likely means some practice squad call-ups are in order for the Giants’ last hurrah at home against the Cowboys, and a lot of young guys should see some action.
Over in Philadelphia, it’s been Deja Vu for the Eagles as Nick Foles has come in cold off the bench to lead them to a couple of crucial wins. Foles has the Eagles on the verge of making the playoffs after they were all but eliminated, and is really helping his future value in the process. With Foles set to be a free agent after the season, Tim McManus of ESPN took a look at Foles’ potential suitors this offseason, and what type of contract he might be looking at. McManus lists the Jaguars, Buccaneers, Dolphins, and Redskins as some of the potential landing spots, and thinks he’ll end up with a deal somewhere in the Case Keenum range of $18MM per year. Foles will have at least one more chance to boost his stock in Week 17 against the Redskins.
Speaking of Foles, coach Doug Pederson formally announced earlier this week that he’d start against Washington, but the team still isn’t placing Carson Wentz on injured reserve, according to Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94 WIP (Twitter link). Pederson cryptically said Foles would be the starter for “at least this week”, and refused to say whether or not Wentz could or would play if the team makes the playoffs. If Wentz is healthy enough to play and the team makes the playoffs, it would make for a fascinating dilemma.

Extra Points: Wentz, Gurley, Newton, Draft

December 20th, 2018 at 9:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

Cam Newton will not play in the Panthers‘ final two games, and Monday night was the tipping point. The eighth-year quarterback complained of shoulder pain in the fourth quarter of recent games, but Albert Breer of SI.com notes Newton was dealing with soreness in the third stanza of Carolina’s 12-9 loss to New Orleans. This, and the short week going into the Panthers’ Sunday game, prompted Ron Rivera and Marty Hurney to bring the idea of shutting the starter down to owner David Tepper. The rookie owner concurred with the coach and GM and then informed Newton of the plan, Breer adds. It’s unclear if Newton is dealing with anything beyond shoulder soreness, but he has not looked the same for weeks. And a national audience observed the former MVP’s throwing issues Monday.

Newton underwent shoulder surgery last year, sidelining him for much of the offseason. Two years remain on the 29-year-old QB’s contract, and how he recovers from this latest shoulder problem may determine the timetable the Panthers set for discussing another extension.

Here’s the latest from around the league going into Week 16:

Carson Wentz is set to join Newton in ending his season early, with back trouble shelving the Eagles‘ franchise passer. This, however, is not the first back issue Wentz has dealt with in his career. Wentz discovered a stress fracture in his back during his redshirt year at North Dakota State, Tim McManus of ESPN.com reports. This injury, suffered prior to his North Dakota State tenure, healed fairly soon and is not related to his current setback, per McManus. Still, this may be something for the Eagles to monitor as they determine how to proceed with Nick Foles or a possible replacement backup this coming offseason.
On the subject of NFC injuries, Todd Gurley has yet to resume running after he experienced knee inflammation, Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com notes. The fourth-year Rams running back returned to Sunday’s game but has not practiced this week. He does not plan to do so the rest of this week but does expect to play against the Cardinals. With the Rams facing two bottom-end teams during the final two weeks of this season (the Cards and 49ers), and being effectively down two games to the Saints in the home-field advantage race, it would not be a surprise if Sean McVay rested Gurley until the playoffs. McVay rested Gurley and other starters in Week 17 of last season, even though the Rams were not locked into a seed. The Rams, who have not held a first-round bye since 2003, are one game up on the Bears for this year’s No. 2 seed.
Ohio State running back Mike Weber has taken a backseat to J.K. Dobbins during the past two seasons, but the first of the Buckeyes’ post-Ezekiel Elliott starters will declare for the 2019 draft. A redshirt junior, Weber announced his decision on Twitter. Weber finished his career with 2,580 yards, 5.9 per carry, and 24 rushing touchdowns. He did not make much of an impact in the passing game but may be a mid-round prospect come April.
The Lions worked out quarterback Joe Callahan and hosted three CFL tryouts — for wide receivers Bryant Mitchell, D’haquille Williams and Jordan Williams–Lambert — on Thursday, NFL reporter Howard Balzer tweets.
With reserve/futures decisions for non-playoff teams due soon (the first day such deals can be agreed to is New Year’s Eve), the Browns also worked out a CFL-to-NFL hopeful. Linebacker Sam Eguavoen auditioned for the Browns on Thursday, per Balzer (on Twitter).

NFC Notes: Eagles, Collins, Gurley, Panthers

December 17th, 2018 at 9:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

Providing an interesting flashback, Nick Foles engineered the Eagles to a big win Sunday night. He is going to be Philadelphia’s starter next week against the Texans, Doug Pederson said Monday. However, unlike last season, Carson Wentz is not headed to IR after what is viewed as a season-ending injury, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The third-year starter is expected to miss the rest of the season because of a back problem, so an IR trip would make sense — unless the Eagles want Wentz around in case he can make a surprise recovery or be an emergency quarterback. Pederson added that the Eagles will not put Wentz in harm’s way. The Eagles remain committed to the former No. 2 overall pick, who is eligible for an extension at season’s end. Foles, though, has started during the team’s biggest wins the past two years and will have another chance to build a unique free agency case. Foles’ contract expires after the season.

The latest from the NFC here, continuing with a key Giants offseason decision:

Landon Collins is rehabbing an injury that is expected to impact him well into the offseason. The Giants safety said he risked further damage to his injured shoulder by continuing to play, though he said during an appearance on The Michael Kay Show (via ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan, on Twitter) he would have considered staying on the field if the Giants had beaten the Eagles to stay in a more realistic playoff pursuit at the time. Collins’ contract expires soon, and the Giants are not believed to have engaged in extension talks with him yet. Collins, though, would prefer to stay in New York and is, as of now, expecting to return (Twitter link via Raanan). The franchise tag — expected to be worth approximately $11.2MM for safeties — is likely, Raanan adds.
Another high-profile player might not be back with his current employer. Matt Kalil signed a somewhat surprising five-year, $55MM Panthers contract in 2017, and that deal still has guarantees going into 2019. The Panthers would be tagged with $14.7MM in dead-money charges if they released Kalil next year — and such a move would not net Carolina anything in cap savings — but The Athletic’s Joe Person notes (subscription required) the current sense is Kalil will be released. The Panthers have a new owner in David Tepper, and the GM that authorized the Kalil contract, Dave Gettleman, is now with the Giants. So, a cut-your-losses maneuver would add up more compared to if the decision-makers behind the contract were still in place. Kalil has spent all season on IR.
Todd Gurley‘s knee injury surely terrified millions of fantasy owners, and it would throw another wrench in a slumping Rams attack. But Sean McVay said Monday (via ESPN.com’s Lindsey Thiry, on Twitter) Gurley is day-to-day with knee inflammation. This does not mean the All-Pro running back is a lock to face the Cardinals on Sunday, but it appears Gurley has dodged a multi-week injury and will be fine for the playoffs at the latest.
Greg Olsen underwent foot surgery on Monday, Person tweets. The Panthers’ Pro Bowl tight end said the procedure went well. Olsen is signed through the 2020 season, but the foot trouble that’s plagued him may not make it a lock he returns next year.

Eagles Remain Committed To Carson Wentz; Nick Foles Likely To Hit Free Agency

December 16th, 2018 at 10:35am CST by Rory Parks

For the second year in a row, the Eagles will ask Nick Foles to lead them to the promised land after watching starting signal-caller Carson Wentz succumb to a season-ending injury. Foles will have a tall order, as he goes against the Rams in Los Angeles tonight before returning to Philadelphia to take on the Texans. And the Eagles, at 6-7, probably need to win out just to have a shot at defending their title.

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com used Foles’ return to the starting lineup as an opportunity to take another look at the reworked contract that Foles and the Eagles agreed to back in April. The deal includes a mutual option for 2019 that allows the Eagles to keep Foles for $20MM if they so choose, or Foles could simply pay back the $2MM signing bonus he received as part of the deal to get out of the option. Given that Wentz is expected to fully recover from the fractured vertebra in his back, the Eagles will almost certainly not pick up Foles’ option, which means that he will hit free agency this offseason (after having the opportunity to add to his bank account thanks to the incentives in the contract).

Speaking of Wentz, Rapoport says it will take the third-year pro three months to make that full recovery, but the Eagles remain fully committed to him as their franchise quarterback (video link). The Eagles have yet to place him on IR, but he has been formally ruled out of tonight’s game against Los Angeles, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter).

Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer says that the team’s medical staff, which was facing mounting criticism anyway, will really come under fire now. Although Wentz should be fully healed in plenty of time for the 2019 offseason program, one does wonder when Wentz suffered the back fracture and how the team’s staff tested and treated it. McLane says it seems likely that Wentz sustained the injury back in October, but it remains unclear how much he knew about it. His experience, when coupled with the “inordinate number of irregularities in recurrence, recovery, and diagnosis” of the injuries the Eagles have suffered as a whole this year, make it fair to criticize the club for unloading its top two doctors and its head trainer after winning the Super Bowl.

Eagles’ Carson Wentz Likely Done For Season

December 13th, 2018 at 12:07pm CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles will be without Carson Wentz on Sunday and probably won’t have him back at all this season. The team has not formally decided on whether to place him on injured reserve, but it’s likely that we won’t see the quarterback again until 2019, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

As it turns out, Wentz’s back injury is more serious than it initially appeared. After a battery of tests, the team learned that Wentz has a fracture in his back. Now, the Eagles are doing more tests to determine whether playing would put him at further risk (Twitter link). On the plus side, Wentz will not require surgery either way.

With that, the Eagles will head into a crucial Week 15 matchup against the Rams without Wentz. A win keeps them very much alive in the Wild Card chase, but a loss would require two more wins and a whole lot of luck to get them into the playoffs.

On the plus side, the Eagles may have the league’s best contingency plan in quarterback Nick Foles. On Sunday, he’ll make his first start since the Eagles’ Week 2 loss to the Bucs.

Eagles’ Carson Wentz To Miss Time

December 12th, 2018 at 10:37am CST by Zachary Links

Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz is not expected to play this week, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Wentz has been dealing with a back issue and, depending on how things go on Sunday against the Rams, he may not play again in 2018.

The NFC East ship has pretty much sailed, but the defending champs presently have an 18% chance of making the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight.com. A win against the Rams on Sunday night would go a long way towards improving their Wild Card odds, but they’ll be behind the 8-ball if they lose. If they can’t stop Todd Gurley & Co., Wentz will likely be shut down for the rest of the year.

Wentz came back this year from a torn ACL and LCL suffered late in the 2017 season. He hasn’t looked quite the same this year, in part because of his inability to properly plant on his left foot. Between that and the back issue, the Eagles are inclined to play it safe when it comes to their franchise quarterback.

The Eagles would obviously like to have Wentz as they take on one of the league’s most fearsome teams, but they are fortunate to have last year’s Super Bowl hero Nick Foles waiting in the wings. The Rams are also coming off of a tough loss to the Bears, so the absence of Wentz certainly doesn’t rule out an upset. If Foles can guide the Eagles to victory, they could conceivably have Wentz back in time for their Dec. 23 game against the Cardinals, depending on how the QB responds to treatment.

The Eagles are 5-6 in Wentz’s starts this year. He’s completing a career-high 69.6% of his throws, but he has thrown for just 21 touchdowns against seven interceptions. Last year, Wentz finished out with 33 TDs against seven INTs.

East Notes: Wentz, Eagles, Clay, Bills, Burkhead, Patriots

November 25th, 2018 at 4:41pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Eagles have struggled mightily in 2018, and while a lot of their troubles can be explained by the rash of injuries they’ve suffered on defense, the offense has also been much worse than last year. Carson Wentz hasn’t looked like himself, and now we have some clarity on why. Wentz returned because Nick Foles was awful the first couple of weeks, and rushed himself back in the process. Wentz is still not 100 percent, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link), who reports Wentz still isn’t able to plant “hard on his left foot.”

Wentz came back from a torn ACL and LCL, which Rapoport says is supposed to take at least a full year to recover from. It helps explain why Wentz hasn’t played at the level we’re all used to, and could mean the Eagles’ offense will only trend upward as the season progresses and he gains more and more confidence in his leg.

Here’s more from the league’s Eastern Divisions:

This is tight end Charles Clay‘s fourth year with the Bills, and it’s looking like it will also be his last. The Bills will likely move on from Clay after this season, according to Joe Buscaglia of WKBW (Twitter link), who writes this is “the first chance the Bills have to get out of the contract.” Buffalo can save $4.5MM in cap space by cutting him this spring, which makes sense to Buscaglia given Clay’s “complete void in production this year.” Once one of the best tight ends in the game, Clay’s production has completely dropped off a cliff this season as he’s dealt with injuries, catching only 19 passes for 169 yards.
Patriots running back Rex Burkhead is eligible to return from injured reserve next week, and New England will have to make some room on the roster to bring him back. The Patriots are likely to cut one of their excess offensive linemen, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, who lists both tackle Matt Tobin and guard James Ferentz as being in danger of losing their jobs.
In case you missed it, there’s a growing sense that the Cowboys might not want to commit huge money to Ezekiel Elliott.

Carson Wentz To Start In Week 3

September 17th, 2018 at 11:05am CST by Dallas Robinson

Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz has been medically cleared and will start against the Colts on Sunday, the club announced today.

Wentz is roughly nine months removed from tearing his ACL, so it’s no surprise Philadelphia used a cautious approach with its franchise signal-caller. While he’d been cleared for 11-on-11 drills, Wentz hadn’t been cleared for full contact until today. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson has previously indicated Wentz will need a week of full contact practice before he’ll be re-inserted as the club’s starter.

The Eagles had the luxury of deploying Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles during their first two games and managed to post a 1-1 record. Foles wasn’t very effective during Philadelphia’s Week 1 win over the Falcons, as he completed just 56% of his passes for 117 yards and one interceptions. He performed much better against the Buccaneers on Sunday (73% completion rate, 334 yards, one touchdown), but the Eagles still lost 27-21.

Wentz, of course, was playing at an MVP pace before going down last December. In 13 starts, Wentz posted 3,296 passing yards, 33 touchdowns, and just seven interceptions and was named second-team All-Pro despite missing three games. Among the 26 quarterbacks with at least 350 attempts in 2017, Wentz ranked second in ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating, fourth in passer rating, and fourth in adjusted yards per attempt.

Wentz won’t return with his full arsenal at hand, as wide receiver Alshon Jeffery is still recovering from shoulder surgery while Mike Wallace injured his ankle on Sunday. However, Jeffery is expected to practice on a limited basis this week, tweets Josina Anderson of ESPN.com, so he could return to game action in the near future. And Wallace will not be placed on injured reserve after fracturing his fibula, Pederson said today, which means the Eagles may believe he could return later this year.

Injury Notes: Wentz, Bosa, Mariota

September 16th, 2018 at 10:04am CST by Rory Parks

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz could be cleared for contact this week, and that may put him on track to make his 2018 debut in Week 3, as was suggested last Sunday. But Rapoport says the team is in no rush to have Wentz return to game action, because it is more concerned about the next 10 to 15 years, not the next 10 to 15 minutes. As such, if the Eagles need to keep Wentz out longer to make sure he is fully recovered from his torn ACL and LCL, they are fully committed to doing so.

However, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that Wentz is indeed on track to be back under center for the Eagles against the Colts next week, and he suggests that Philadelphia will have no issue in deploying Wentz as soon as he is cleared for contract.

Now let’s take a look at a few more reports concerning injuries to some of the league’s biggest names:

This is not much of a surprise given a report from earlier this week, but Schefter reports that Chargers DE Joey Bosa is expected to be sidelined until at least October. Bosa is continuing to rehab his foot with the hope that the swelling goes down and the foot stabilizes, but surgery is still very much in play if that does not happen.
Titans QB Marcus Mariota has not yet regained complete feeling in his fingers, per Rapoport (Twitter link). Schefter adds (via Twitter) that Mariota is still unable to grip the football normally as a result, which means that Blaine Gabbert may be starting under center for Tennessee for at least Week 2.
Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette is unlikely to play against the Patriots today, per Schefter, but it sounds as though Fournette is making good progress in his recovery from the hamstring injury he suffered last week. Even if the second-year back is unable to suit up today, he could be back in action next week.
Rapoport confirms (via Twitter) a report from Tuesday that Panthers TE Greg Olsen is hoping to return much sooner than was originally anticipated when he fractured his foot in the team’s season-opening win over the Cowboys. Rapoport says that Olsen hopes to be back on the field in four to five weeks, and he will have the foot — the same one he broke last year — reevaluated after the season.
We received a status update on Packers QB Aaron Rodgers earlier today.

Carson Wentz Could Return For Week 3

September 9th, 2018 at 10:59am CST by Rory Parks

After a report yesterday indicated that Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz was still “multiple weeks away” from making his 2018 debut and officially completing his recovery from the torn ACL he suffered last December, Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com has good news for Eagles fans. Mortensen tweets that Wentz’s return will come sooner rather than later, and that Week 3 is a realistic target.

Week 3 has also been mentioned as the potential return date for Philadelphia’s top wide receiver, Alshon Jeffery, so the Eagles’ offense could be back to full-strength in short order. The team was able to scratch out a win in the season opener on Thursday night against the Falcons, and the hope is that Nick Foles will be able to quarterback another victory against the Buccaneers — who are also missing their No. 1 QB — next Sunday before handing the reins back to Wentz for the Week 3 matchup against the Colts. Although Mortensen reported that Wentz could theoretically return for the Bucs game, he says Week 3 is more realistic.

Foles was not particularly impressive in the victory over Atlanta, and he put together a horrible preseason. Although the Super Bowl LII MVP remains one of the best backup signal-callers in the game, Philadelphia is understandably anxious to get Wentz back on the field.

If Wentz does return for Week 3, he would still be on the early end of the ACL recovery timeline; typically, it takes nine to 12 months for a player who has suffered a torn ACL to return to game action. Wentz was playing at an MVP level prior to his injury, and there is no reason to believe he will be unable to return to that form.

Load More Posts