Carson Wentz will start for the Washington Commanders on Thursday night against the Chicago Bears even though his throwing arm is far from healthy.
On Thursday morning, the NFL Network reported that despite some questions surrounding Wentz’s availability for their game tonight, the 29-year-old is expected to suit up against the Bears. However, the biceps tendon strain near his throwing shoulder that he suffered in the team’s loss last week to the Tennessee Titans is far from healed. Nevertheless, he looked strong in practice and the team is still running the risk of the injury getting worse by playing him.
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“Wentz is sore and not 100 percent, sources say. It was unclear early in the week if he’d be able to go, but he looked good throwing the ball in practice — albeit in a walkthrough setting. The plan now is to get through this game and then try to heal up with extra rest coming off the Thursday night game.”
nfl network report on Carson wentz
After a strong start to the season, where he threw for over 300 yards twice and seven touchdowns, Wentz had two down games in Weeks 3 and 4. Tossing just one TD to two interceptions, and only peaked with 211 passing yards. In Week 5 he had a better showing as he logged a season-best 359 yards, with two TDs and an INT. However, it wasn’t enough as the Commanders still fell 21-17 at home.
Why starting Carson Wentz is the wrong move for the Washington Commanders
Through five games, it does not seem like Wentz is likely to reach the potential he showed early in his career and become the franchise QB the Commanders need. Having lost four straight, and dropping to 1-4 overall, now would be a fitting time to at least give rookie signal-caller Sam Howell a look.
The fifth-round pick out of North Carolina looked strong in the preseason and Washington needs all it can get if it hopes to get fans to the stadium each week for the rest of its home games. Playing a young QB in a low-risk and a high-reward scenario would certainly galvanize interest in what will be another losing season in Washington.
At the very least, if the team thinks Wentz is a better option than any other QB on the team, playing him on Thursday isn’t worth the long-term risk of losing him for more than just one game. If the organization wants to salvage the season, and head coach Ron Rivera wants to hold on to his job, benching Wentz for at least one game to get healthy has far more pros than cons.