Carson Wentz (Head) Will Not Return vs. Seahawks; Brandon Graham (Knee) Questionable

Carson Wentz suffered a head injury in the first quarter of his postseason debut.
Carson Wentz (Head) Will Not Return vs. Seahawks; Brandon Graham (Knee) Questionable
Carson Wentz (Head) Will Not Return vs. Seahawks; Brandon Graham (Knee) Questionable /

The Eagles entered Sunday's Wild Card weekend matchup against the Seahawks already dealing with a number of injuries. They were dealt another big blow early in the game.

Philadelphia quarterback Carson Wentz suffered a head injury in the first quarter and after initially being ruled questionable to return, was downgraded to out, the team announced.  According the Eagles, defensive end Brandon Graham was marked as questionable to return after sustaining a knee injury. 

Wentz was making his postseason debut Sunday, but on a third-and-10 run with 6:59 to go in the first quarter, he took a shot to the head from Seattle DE Jadeveon Clowney while diving to the ground. No penalty was assessed on the play.

Wentz briefly visited the team's medical tent on the sideline before heading to the locker room for further testing.

"He was a runner and he did not give himself up," NFL referee Shawn Smith said of the hit. "We saw incidental contact, and in our judgment, we didn't rule that to be a foul."

The No. 2 pick in the 2016 NFL draft started all 16 games during the regular season, finishing the year with 4,039 yards, 27 touchdowns and only seven interceptions.

Eagles backup Josh McCown entered the game on the team's final possession of the first quarter. McCown played in only three regular-season games in 2019, taking 15 total snaps.

McCown had never played in a postseason game before appearing Sunday. Per Pro Football Reference, he is the oldest QB at the time of his playoff debut.

Graham injured his knee on a play in the second quarter and headed to the locker room. 

The team already entered Sunday short on defensive ends with only Graham, Derek Barnett, Vinny Curry and Josh Sweat as healthy defensive ends on the roster. Graham had a career-high 8.5 sacks this season, adding 15 tackles for loss and 50 total tackles.

The Eagles trailed Seattle 3-0 at the end of the first quarter and 10-3 at halftime. 

Seattle would go on to win 17-9, advancing to the Divisional Round to play the No. 2 Green Bay Packers


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Ben Pickman
BEN PICKMAN