Rodney McLeod says Joe Santiquito's report that Carson Wentz is "selfish" and "egotistical" is "fake news."
Related: Santoliquito on Wentz report: 'I've received death threats'
"I mean, come on man," McLeod said on 94WIP's Zero Fs Given podcast on Tuesday.
"Like everybody is saying Donald Trump's favorite line, Fake news! Like, everybody in the building knows it. I didn't even entertain it. I read like the first sentence and said, 'Come on.' I know what type of a guy Carson is, we all do I feel like around here in Philadelphia. And for someone to kind of try to shame his name in that way, it just doesn't sit right and it doesn't make sense."
McLeod, 28, suffered a torn MCL in Week 3 and missed the remainder of the season. McLeod says Wentz has helped him with his recovery.
"At the end of the day, Carson, he's a leader," McLeod said. "He's selfless, he's shown that countless times from on the field and then off the field, obviously with his injury. Nobody knows what that does to you mentally. I now sit in the same shoes as him. And I feel like I learned from guys like himself, Chris Maragos, Jason Peters and how they stayed involved in the game and they helped their teammates in a situation where you could solely just think about yourself in that moment. So you put your pride aside and you do what's best for the team and I feel like 11 does that one hundred percent."
Santoliquito, who has received a ton of backlash for his report, told Angelo Cataldi on Tuesday that he's actually received multiple death threats. Santoliquito also says Wentz can use the story for motivation.
"The other thing too is, guess what?" Santoliquito said. "I'm the best thing Carson Wentz has ever had going for him. You don't think this is gonna piss him off even more? You don't think this is gonna motivate him even more, to stick this up someone's little tail and just say, 'Hey listen pal, you're wrong. Everybody else that believes what you said you wrote was wrong.' I can see it now. I can see Jason Kelce in his mummer's outfit calling me out like he called out Lombardi last year. If the Eagles turn around and have a 14-2 season, make a run, who knows? Who knows that this very—well I'm not going to say very negative—situation that has been brought to light, they can't turn into a positive. And I feel very strongly about that."
A bunch of Wentz's teammates from Malcolm Jenkins to Chris Long to Lane Johnson, in addition to McLeod, have defended Wentz.
You can listen to the full podcast with McLeod below.
