December 31, 2018
The Eagles have a strange situation at quarterback heading into their Wild Card playoff matchup against the Bears next week.
Technically, both their starter and back up are nursing lingering but not serious injuries — so one of them has to play Sunday, right?
Well, despite a rib injury that gave Eagles fans a scare, Doug Pederson made it clear Monday that Nick Foles will be the guy in Chicago.
"Nick, he's feeling good," the coach said when asked who is starting.
According to a report that broke earlier Monday, Foles is just banged up and bruised, and will be able to suit up and play in Chicago Sunday at 4:40 p.m.
#Eagles QB Nick Foles has bruised ribs and tests today revealed no break, sources tell me and @RapSheet. The expectation is he’s good to go Sunday vs. the #Bears. I’ll be joining @gmfb from Philly shortly.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 31, 2018
Foles went to the locker room late in Philly's playoff-clinching shutout win in Washington yesterday and did not return as Nate Sudfeld threw his first career touchdown pass.
Wentz, who is still not on the Eagles' IR for some reason, is recovering with rest from a back injury that has him unable to play — even though he did play through it for several weeks.
Many were curious if the Eagles were keeping Wentz on the active roster in order to give him the chance to finally start in a playoff game, and the Foles injury would give Philly the opportunity — if Wentz were healthy enough to practice — to do so. But it does seem as though the team is content to stick with the hot hand, which would be Foles, regardless of Wentz' availability.
"For this week," Pederson said, refusing to commit to Foles long term. "There's no guarantee we're going to win this game. We will evaluate [Wentz] next Monday."
Wentz, however, is on the 53-man roster and taking up a spot that could be used for another player who might actually see the field. So will he practice anytime soon?
"I have not talked to Carson today, and no," Pederson said, later confirming that Sudfeld would be the No. 2 quarterback next week.
With history repeating itself at quarterback for the Eagles as the playoffs begin, one can't help to feel for Wentz, who appears to have the role of "assistant quarterbacks coach" yet again as the Eagles play into January.
"You know Carson," Pederson said, "you've talked to him [and] you know he wants to be out there and be with his team. It is unfortunate it's not the case but right now. He's being really supportive and he's healing and he's doing everything he can to help Nick. That's his role right now."
When he was the starter, Wentz played really well, tossing 21 touchdown passes to just seven interceptions while compiling an impressive 102.2 passer rating. His back injury, which reached the point of being unplayable after the Dallas game, may take up to three months to fully heal. But he's still one of the 53.
Eventually, we hope, we'll learn why the Eagles are acting so peculiarly with their quarterbacks. But for now, until he pushes it back a week, Foles is the man with the Bears game on the horizon.
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