Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz is excited for a fresh start with a new organization. While he is focused on the upcoming 2022 NFL season, he has seemingly noticed comments made about him since leaving the Indianapolis Colts.
A year ago, Wentz joined the Colts excited to reunite with head coach Frank Reich. Indianapolis traded its 2022 first-round pick and a 2021 third-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles, confident Wentz could return to MVP-caliber form with the coach he knew best.
The move backfired. Things looked promising early in the 2021 season as the Colts rode out to a promising start and Wentz posted a 17-3 TD-INT ratio with a 100.1 passer rating and completed 63.3% of his passes. However, things unraveled down the stretch.
- Carson Wentz stats (Week 10-15): 61.8% completion rate, 8-3 TD-INT ratio, 89.4 QB rating
Despite the dip in production, Indianapolis entered Week 16 needing a single victory to earn a playoff spot. The Colts lost both games, scoring a combined 31 points against the Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars. In his final two starts, Wentz completed just 58.8% of his attempts, took seven sacks and posted an 80.4 passer rating.
Related: Washington Commanders view Carson Wentz as potential long-term fit
The organization saw enough. Indianapolis shopped Wentz around the league heavily at the NFL Combine. Once he was traded to Washington – a deal NFL executives ripped the Commanders for making – Colts’ owner Jim Irsay didn’t hold back his feelings on the Wentz era.
“I think the worst thing you can do is have a mistake and try to keep living with it going forward. For us, it was something we had to move away from as a franchise. It was very obvious.”
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay on trading Carson Wentz, via IndyStar
It became evident the sentiment toward Wentz from the Colts’ organization wasn’t positive. They made a big investment in him and it backfired. He also missed a game due to his unvaccinated status after testing positive for COVID-19 and there were frustrations regarding his leadership.
The 29-year-old quarterback has turned the page on what happened in Indianapolis last season. However, Wentz was recently asked about Irsay’s comments during a recent appearance on The Colin Cowherd podcast.
I mean, it is what it is, you know. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. I thought last year was a really fun year. I thought we did some incredible things, came up short at the end. Obviously I struggled down the stretch there and timing was poor. But yeah, I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect things to unfold the way they did and I thought things were in a pretty good place there. I had awesome relationships with every single person in that building. Can’t say enough good things about the people over there. Yeah, it kinda came out of left field, you know? He’s entitled to his own opinion and he’s entitled to do what he wants with his football team.”
Washington Commanders QB Carson Wentz on Indiapolis Colts’ Jim Irsay comments
Irsay is a hands-on owner, someone who is very willing to speak publicly and likes to be involved in football decisions. It’s no surprise he wanted a change at quarterback considering his devotion to the team. Now, the Colts believe they are in a much better situation with quarterback Matt Ryan and there is optimism this team can compete in a loaded AFC.
As for Wentz, the 2022 season with the Commanders will be an opportunity to prove his former NFL teams wrong or he’ll demonstrate why they were right, either outcome will shape the rest of his career.