Getty Could Nick Foles be reunited with Frank Reich?
Could Nick Foles be reunited with a familiar face? The Chicago Bears quarterback has been linked to the New York Jets in multiple trade rumors in recent months, but another AFC team has emerged as a potential trade partner.
After NFL insider Adam Schefter reported on July 30 that Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz injured his foot in practice this week, and will be “out indefinitely” as a result.
Colts’ QB Carson Wentz is out indefinitely as he undergoes further testing on a foot injury that he suffered at the end of Thursday’s practice, per @MikeWellsNFL and me.
Colts’ second-year QB Jacob Eason took the starter reps at today’s practice, with Sam Ellinger as his backup.
While the Colts are waiting for further tests to confirm the severity of the injury, the two quarterbacks currently behind Wentz are 2020 fourth-rounder Jacob Eason and rookie Sam Ellinger, neither of whom has taken an NFL snap. It’s not a stretch to think Colts head coach Frank Reich might seek out a reunion with Foles, who he won a Super Bowl with when the two were in Philadelphia.
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Foles & Reich Have Great Relationship
Reich served as offensive coordinator for the Eagles from 2016-17, when Foles backed up Wentz. Three years, one “Philly Special” and a Super Bowl ring later, Foles is the Bears’ third-string quarterback and Reich is the Colts head coach — and he needs a QB. Based on comments made by Reich and Foles last year, both still think quite highly of each other.
“This guy just has this knack for making big plays, like few I’ve ever seen,” Reich said about Foles in September of 2020, via BearsWire. “Then he has this knack for coming up in big moments. In the biggest moments, that’s usually when he’s at his best. … This guy’s a stud player.”
“He’s a great point guard,” Reich added. “He’s a magician with the ball. He can throw and deliver the ball from every angle.”
It’s clear Reich values his time with Foles, as well.
“He was the one who really figured me out as a player and realized that we had it all wrong,” Foles said about Reich in September 2020, per The Chicago Tribune. “They just threw some plays out there one day and said: ‘Just go play these plays. We studied you and these are the plays you do.’ And sure enough, something triggered inside of me. And he figured me out as a player to where, even during games when I’d come to the sidelines, usually coaches want to coach you up and all this, and he’d go, ‘Just keep doing it, just keep doing it.’ Like, he wouldn’t say much. At first it was sort of weird because you’re not used to a coach doing that. He was like: ‘I trust you. Just go do your thing.’ No matter what, if I threw an interception or I threw a touchdown, he cared more about the person than the player. And that says a lot about him and that’s why I have all the respect in the world.”
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Would Bears Part Ways With Foles?
Chicago would have very likely already shipped Foles off had the team found an interested trade partner. Ty Dunne of Go Long revealed in May that Foles refused a trade to Philly, but would he turn his nose up at having a chance to potentially go from third-stringer to starter playing for a coach he loves?
If Chicago can manage to unload Foles, it would free up about $4 million in cap space, via Over the Cap, so the team would very likely be open to a trade if it had a willing partner. The latest on Wentz, as reported by Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, suggests the Colts QB could miss significant time. Per Garafolo, Wentz is seeing foot specialist Robert Anderson, and according to top insider Ian Rapoport, “minor” surgery is on the table.
As Rapoport noted, Wentz isn’t likely to miss the entire season, but he could miss significant time. Mike Silver of Sports Illustrated also reported the Colts were “bracing for” surgery, so stay tuned Bears fans. Don’t be surprised if Reich gets the Bears on the phone.
I’m told the Wentz foot injury involves a bone and a ligament… Colts had been hoping for better news, are bracing for possible surgery
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