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The Washington Commanders held an introductory press conference for new quarterback Carson Wentz on March 17. But a lot of the presser seemed less like an introduction and more of a rehashing of what happened for Wentz with the Indianapolis Colts.
In particular, Wentz answered a few different questions about how things concluded with the Colts. While the quarterback said he is very excited about the new opportunity in Washington, he was “definitely surprised” by how things ended in Indianapolis.
“Anytime you are in a new place, you want it to work out,” Wentz said. “You want to be there. You want to do the best you can for that team, that organization, that fanbase. God willing — it works out for a long time. It didn’t. God changed our plans.”
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Carson Wentz Says He Sometimes Wonders Why He’s Not Still in Indianapolis
During the introductory press conference, Wentz reportedly faced a Colts related question from reporter David Aldridge of The Athletic. He asked the quarterback why he wasn’t still in Indianapolis.
“Sometimes I wonder the same to be honest,” Wentz answered. “I think it was a year that had highs and lows, ups and downs. But the way we finished, the way I finished, was poor. It was definitely tough to swallow.”
Wentz threw for 3,563 yards, 27 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. On Christmas Day, he led the Colts to a road victory against an NFC wild card team, the Arizona Cardinals. In that game, Wentz completed 64% of his passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns.
He posted a 112.9 passer rating, leading the Colts to a third straight win.
But Indianapolis ended the season with two consecutive losses. Wentz threw for under 200 yards in both of the final two games. In the season finale against the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars, Wentz had an interception and took six sacks.
“Tough to finish like that especially when we thought we had a chance to really do something special and make a run,” Wentz said. “We just kind of collapsed, and I didn’t play well enough at the end there.”
Carson Wentz Answers Questions About Leadership
Although Wentz is correct that the season ended poorly for himself and the Colts, staff writer Zak Keefer of The Athletic reported Indianapolis trading Wentz was about more than just his terrible finish to the season.
“The issues with Wentz stretched back to before the season began, one source said, and over the course of the year, some grew frustrated at what they deemed a lack of leadership, a resistance to hard coaching and a reckless style of play, which had a role in several close losses this year,” wrote Keefer.
Wentz received similar leadership criticism in the media at the end of his tenure in Philadelphia when he declined to do an exit interview.
The 29-year-old addressed some of those criticisms in his Washington introductory press conference on March 17.
“Reports are reports. There’s truth in some things and all those things. If we were in this business trying to combat and argue every report, we’d run out of things to say,” he said. “For me, I just try to be myself. Be myself, get to know the guys, build relationships. I strongly feel I had amazing relationships with people in Philly and people in Indy. I loved my time there.”
Later in the presser, he gave a lighthearted response when asked about Colts general manager Chris Ballard’s comments at the NFL Combine.
Wentz is entering his seventh NFL season since the Eagles drafted him No. 2 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. With the Commanders, he will visit both Philadelphia and Indianapolis during the 2022 season.
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