We continue to learn more about what Carson Wentz's mindset was during the Philadelphia Eagles' 2017 Super Bowl run, when his NFL MVP case was halted by a torn ACL and Nick Foles went on to lead the team to a championship in his absence.
Earlier this week, Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer published a nugget on an incident that took place between Wentz and another injured Eagle while the team went on a Super Bowl run:
"Sometime before the championship game, Wentz voiced his displeasure with the Eagles’ success to a group of other injured players, sources with direct knowledge of the incident said. One of the players immediately confronted him and the two eventually had to be separated."
Part of what made the story of the Eagles' run to their first Super Bowl title so incredible is that a slew of accomplished veterans suffered season-ending injuries throughout the course of the season, and the team just kept winning anyway. By the time that the playoffs begun, Wentz, Jason Peters, Darren Sproles, Caleb Sturgis, Jordan Hicks and Chris Maragos had all suffered season-ending injuries. Naturally, after McLane's report came out, there was quite a bit of speculation about which of the other injured players may have taken exception to Wentz's attitude towards things.
That report was published hours before the Indianapolis Colts traded Wentz to the Washington Commanders, adding a third city into this discussion.
While Brian Mitchell became a fan favorite as a punt and kick returner during the early days of Andy Reid's tenure as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Mitchell spent the first decade of his career playing for the franchise now known as the Commanders. Since his retirement, Mitchell has become a star on D.C.'s 106.7 The Fan.
And in hour two of his midday show with J.P. Finlay Thursday, Mitchell stopped beating around the bush, and said that it was Sproles who became upset with Wentz:
"And he damn sure wasn't happy about them going on a run when he wasn't playing. He was, 'I don't feel comfortable with them winning it without me. This doesn't feel good.' Until Darren Sproles almost whipped his ass. Cause he's a 'me' guy. ...He's a 'me' guy. He better become a 'we' guy or he's gonna have problems here."
Mind you, Sproles was out for the season after tearing his ACL *and* suffering a broken forearm on the same play in a September win over the New York Giants.
On Friday's show, former NFL running back LeGarrette Blount joined the discussion. While Blount is most remembered for his time with the New England Patriots, he was a key cog in Philadelphia's offense in 2017, his lone season with the team. And Blount didn't push back against the idea that Sproles and Wentz had some sort of an argument:
Blount: "Aye B, what are you laughing at? ... You like that trade, B?"
Mitchell: "Ehh, I'm not 100% behind it at this point."
Finlay: "That was the kindest that he's been about this trade since it happened.
Blount: "Oh, that's the kindest he's been. I don't even wanna hear the other parts. ... I have a question; so with the Commanders, who would have been the quarterback? [Taylor] Heinicke?
Mitchell: "No, I think they had to go get somebody else. I still think that. But the thing about me is, this team has been in quarterback hell for years. And yes, Carson was great in 2017."
Blount: "It's 2022."
Mitchell: "Yeah, it's 2022. On top of it, he's injured a lot. And you hear all of the stories about, like you said, sometimes he's a little different. You hear the stories about him and Darren Sproles, where Darren had to step to him because he wasn't happy about the team being successful without him."
Blount: "Yep."
Mitchell: "And when you have a team that gives you up and deals with the highest salary cap hit ... and then you go to another team and after one year they are like 'Bye, bye,' something is there. I've been living long enough to understand that you don't keep moving a person if they're great. It's something wrong."
Blount: "You ain't lying, B ... you ain't lying. Yeah, I'm with you on that, and I know exactly what story you're talking about with Sproles. But I try to see the best in everybody, I want to. So hopefully it goes well for him. But man, I'm with you bro, I don't know what pick ya'll got."
Finlay: "LG, I've been trying to get this Darren Sproles story told to me, can you tell it?"
Blount: "So, I don't know the full details of it because I wasn't there. I just got kind of like a light version of it, and I guess, from my understanding, him and Sproles kind of ... I guess Nick [Foles] had a great game or he brought us back or he was balling or whatever it was, it was one of those games for him ... and I guess something was said about our success, would it still be the same if Carson didn't play [at all in 2017 and Foles started the whole season] ... and I guess he was supposedly like 'I don't agree with that. I don't think that would have been the case. I don't think we would have been as good if I wasn't here.' I know it's probably way more detailed than that, but that's just kind of the watered down version of it."
The case that Wentz was making has been made by many fans in the years since the team won the Super Bowl, essentially that the Eagles caught lightning in a bottle with Foles for a few games, but without Wentz setting the team up for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, the Eagles wouldn't have won a championship.
And honestly, it's probably human nature for Wentz not to have been especially pleased that the quarterback who became the first Super Bowl MVP in Eagles history wasn't him. For Wentz to feel the need to vocalize that, though, comes off as selfish and paints him as not particularly mature and confident in his standing.
Less than five years after Wentz suggested that he was going to be the Super Bowl MVP the year after Foles was, he's headed to his third NFL team. And the reason for that, per Zak Keefer of The Athletic is that there were factions in Indianapolis that "grew frustrated at what they deemed to be a lack of leadership, a resistance to hard coaching and a reckless style of play."
Among other things, these were the same criticisms that doomed Wentz's time in Philadelphia, not that long after he seemed destined to become the greatest quarterback in franchise history. Perhaps the third team will be the charm for the former No. 2 overall pick.
Related
LISTEN NOW on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram