Wentz began doubting his future with Eagles as soon as he got benched originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The moment he got benched is the moment Carson Wentz started thinking he might need a fresh start.
Wentz, on a Zoom call Thursday, said it was as early as Dec. 6, when Doug Pederson benched him in the third quarter of a loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field, that doubts began creeping into his head about his future with the Eagles.
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“Green Bay was probably the moment that I realized this might not be it,” he said. “Any time you’re pulled you don’t know. ‘Am I going to go out next week? Next drive?’ I had no idea. So all those things go through your mind.”
At that point, the Eagles trailed the Packers 17-3 and Wentz was 6-for-15 for 79 yards. Jalen Hurts replaced him, and the Packers wound up winning 30-16, dropping the Eagles to 3-8-1. Wentz never played another snap for the Eagles.
Quarterbacks get benched all the time and many bounce back from it, and it’s fair to wonder if getting benched once in the middle of a miserable season should be enough to make anybody think they need a fresh start.
But Carson said that’s what happened, and as he sat on the bench his thoughts turned to helping out Hurts as much as he could while he wondered about his long-term future.
“(You) try not to overthink it, try to be in the moment, do what I can,” he said. “Obviously frustrated to not be playing, but at the same time trying to be there for my teammates and do everything I can to help the team win.
“But yeah, those thoughts definitely creep in once you’re benched and that’s definitely how it unfolded.”
Carson did say he and Hurts got along and that he was impressed with how the 22-year-old played in his first four NFL starts.
“Jalen and I had a good relationship, I wish the kid nothing but the best,” he said in his first public comments since after that Packers game more than three months ago. “I think he’s got a lot of ability. I was impressed with how quickly he kind of grasped the offense and really understood things and how well he did.
“Obviously, I would have loved to have been the guy playing the year out, there’s no mistaking that, but that’s not how it unfolded. I’ve got a lot of respect for him, it’s just the way it unfolded.”
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