Rumors Rage Around Carson Wentz

It's Thursday, welcome to the latest hot takes on Carson Wentz and his future in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA - Animosity? Not salvageable?

It's Thursday. Welcome to the latest hot takes on Carson Wentz and his future in Philadelphia.

If you want to listen to Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy, there is no future.

"I go back to (former Minnesota coach) Denny Green and he told me when I was a very young coach, if you take your starting quarterback out, you're telling your team you're ready to move on," Dungy, now an NBC analyst, said on WFAN Radio. "It's hard to say, 'Hey we took Carson Wentz for whatever reason. We put Jalen Hurts in, but now we can go back to Carson, he's OK now.'

"I think that really becomes tough, especially the way Hurts played (against New Orleans). I personally, would not have taken Carson out, but once you did I think you've kind of made a statement."

ESPN talking head and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky, traditionally a big Wentz supporter, claims he's hearing whispers of "animosity" between Wentz and the organization that drafted him at No. 2 overall in 2016.

"A lot of people think there's a lot of built-up animosity between him and the organization in Philly," Orlovsky said on the Pat McAfee Show. "I think a lot of people think he misses Frank Reich as a human more than just a play-caller. I think a lot of people feel that Carson Wentz feels betrayed and the only person in the NFL that he trusts is Frank Reich."

"A lot of people think there's a built-up animosity between him & that organization in Philly..

A lot of people think that he misses Frank Reich as a human more than just a play caller..

People think Carson Wentz feels betrayed"@danorlovsky7 on Wentz #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/2Yv12JKzUk

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 16, 2020

"A lot of people" is hardly solid sourcing but Dungy's take is a more boilerplate one for most NFL coaches.

To date, the Eagles claim that Wentz has acted like a professional in a difficult situation.

"He's handled it like a pro," Doug Pederson said. "He's gone out to practice, you see him, he's taking reps obviously with the service team and providing a really good look for our defense and has done a great job in helping Jalen. He's been involved in the meetings and just what I expected."

The decision to bench Wentz was a difficult one for these kinds of reasons, however. Pederson, as a former QB himself, understands the repercussions Green explained to Dungy all those years ago.

"It's always difficult, especially at the quarterback position," Pederson said of the QB change. "In-game, when you're trying to find a play, find an opportunity for anybody to make a play, and then it's not happening, you've just got to find that spark and you've just got to find that something that maybe can get your offense going. Maybe get your team going and so they are obviously difficult decisions to make.

"But again, that's what I was hired to do, to make difficult decisions."

John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Tuesday and Thursday on "The Middle" with Eytan Shander, Harry Mayes, and Barrett Brooks on SportsMap Radio and PhillyVoice.com. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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