Carson Wentz Ruled Out of Potential Philadelphia Return
It's official, Carson Wentz will not be returning to Philadelphia for the Nov. 14 Monday night game against the Eagles.
The Washington QB1 was placed on injured reserve Saturday by the Commanders with a fractured ring finger suffered in an ugly 12-7 win over Chicago on Oct. 13, meaning the former Eagles starter will have to miss at least four games.
Washington is set to host Green Bay on Sunday where backup Taylor Heinicke is scheduled to start for Ron Rivera's team.
From there, the Commanders will visit Indianapolis, which was another potential reunion game for Wentz, welcome Minnesota to FedExField, and then visit the Eagles.
Wentz's first game in which he would be eligible to return would be Sunday, Nov. 20 at Houston. His timetable for the injury has been reported as four to six weeks.
He underwent what was described as successful surgery Saturday in Los Angeles by hand specialist Dr. Steven Shin at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan Jobe Surgery Center and began rehab immediately.
The Commanders also have rookie Sam Howell at QB but Heinicke is the more experienced of the two and should continue to hold the job in the coming weeks.
In fact, while limited from an athletic standpoint, the dropoff from Wentz to Heinicke for Washington isn't likely to be all that steep.
"I think because of the familiarity and the things that we do, it'll be an easy transition for us," Rivera said earlier this week when discussing the QB position. "I think with Taylor, too, there is always that ability to run the ball. He's got a little bit of that in him, so it'll be interesting. The things that we'll do certainly will match his skill set."
The Eagles routed the Commanders, 24-8, in Washington on Sept. 25.
Wentz was 25-for-43 in that game for 211 yards and was sacked nine times. He was a dismal 3-for-10 for 34 yards in the first half which is when the game was one by Philadelphia.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
