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The biggest mystery surrounding Carson Wentz’s exodus from Philadelphia was whether he asked for a trade. There were grumblings that he requested out, specifically to reunite with Frank Reich in Indianapolis — yet the quarterback never spoke those words.
It was all hearsay, from sourced reports and talking heads in the media. On Thursday, Wentz finally addressed the media after a three-month speaking moratorium. Dressed in a sharp blue suit, the new face of the franchise for the Colts casually talked about the trade and what went wrong in Philly. No, he didn’t request a trade out of town and called the decision to leave the Eagles “outside of my control.”
“For starters, there were a lot of conversations at the end of the year with my agent and everybody, where I’m not going to dive into the specifics of that,” Wentz told reporters. “As far as being a competitor, I’ve never once questioned my competitiveness, but at the end of the day this was outside of my control. I’m appreciative of everything that happened in Philly, with all of the opportunities. I know where I’m at today, and for five years I gave everything I had, on and off the field.”
Wentz refused to delve into the specifics as did Eagles GM Howie Roseman during a separate interview. However, he did pinpoint the exact moment when he began to realize his time was up in Philly. As soon as Doug Pederson benched him for Jalen Hurts on Dec. 6 in Green Bay, according to Wentz.
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Not only that, the one-time franchise quarterback also apologized to his ex-Eagles teammates if anyone ever felt betrayed. Remember, there was a lot of drama over some “anonymous” comments from an unknown player.
“You wanna play the detective, find out who said it, who did what, and all of those things,” Wentz said. “But it’s like, does it matter? Whether someone feels that way or not, that’s what’s out there. If any of my teammates think I wasn’t the best teammate, I apologize and wish I could be better. Last year was tough for everybody, just building those relationships, but it’s something where given the environment this world is in, it takes being very intentional.”
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Nick Sirianni Talks Jalen Hurts, Starting QB
Meanwhile, the Eagles are getting on with their football lives and embracing the Jalen Hurts era. New head coach Nick Sirianni talked about maximizing the things that Hurts does well, although he didn’t come out and declare the second-year quarterback the starter.
He prefaced the conversation by explaining how he had a different starter every year in Indianapolis — Andrew Luck (2018), Jacoby Brissett (2019), Philip Rivers (2020).
“Those teams had similarities in their offenses, but minor differences just because every quarterback did something a little bit different,” Sirianni said. “That’s no different here, right? Right now, our quarterback on our team, we have one quarterback on our team, so we’re thinking about Jalen and the things he does well: what he did well at Alabama, what he did well at Oklahoma, what he did well last year when he was here. We’re thinking about those things and how we can make him as successful as we possibly can.”
Roseman fielded the same question and sung Hurts’ praises. It sure sounded like a guy convinced that the 22-year-old could be the long-term answer.
“I think when people start talking about Jalen, the first thing that they go to is his athleticism and his strength as a runner. I don’t know that’s necessarily fair,” Roseman said. “This is a guy who completed over 70% of his passes at Oklahoma. He’s got a feel for the passing game. He’s got a plus arm. I think he’s going to continue to get better and better.”
Eagles Superfan Bullied for Supporting Wentz
In one of the saddest stories of the day, Eagles superfan Giovanni Hamilton has taken a temporary leave of absence from social media after getting cyber-bullied. Unbelievable, right? The 13-year-old posted a photo of himself wearing a No. 2 Wentz jersey, a gift the Indianapolis Colts sent to him.
Hamilton has referred to Wentz as his “hero” in previous comments. A few misguided Eagles fans — horrible people, rotten apples would be an understatement — took to Twitter to shower him with hate. One guy threatened to break the kid’s kneecaps, per Hamilton’s mom.
Hamilton suffers from Schwartz-Jampel Syndrome, a rare form of dwarfism that causes skeletal abnormalities. He has had multiple surgeries over the years yet remains steadfast in his commitment to the Eagles. He even started his own podcast last year. He’s a local treasure and we wish him the best!
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