Apparently Carson Wentz does not possess the same injury-avoiding "instinct"Deshaun Watson does.
In the same week that Houston Texans coach Bill O'Brien raved about his quarterback's ability to avoid the big hit and know when a play has died, the Philadelphia Eagles expressed a desire to try to get their quarterback to learn the same.
In an interview with Philly.com, Wentz's old offensive coordinator Frank Reich, who's now the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, said Wentz needs to change his approach when it comes to getting out of the pocket.
"It definitely went in one ear and out the other early on," Reich said. "It didn't go exactly like this, but this is just made up to protect the innocent, or protect the guilty, however you say it: We would say to him, 'Hey, you just need to kind of back off on some of this tackling stuff.'
"And he didn't quite say it like this, but it was essentially, 'No, I'm not backing off. This is me. This is how I play.'"
That style of play nearly cost the Eagles their first-ever Super Bowl title last season. In a diving effort to score a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams, Wentz mangled his knee and was forced to miss the remaining three games of the regular season as well as Philly's playoff run.
Luckily for the Eagles, Nick Foles filled in admirably and won the Lombardi Trophy for the city regardless. But the Eagles would clearly rather not face that same situation again if they don't have to.
"I'm going to sit down and talk to him," coach Doug Pederson said at Annual League Meeting last week. "Longevity's everything in this business. Learn from the best. Learn from Tom Brady, who got hurt early in his career. And learn from guys that have done that and yet still went on to have great careers and long careers."
Wentz and the Eaglesare optimistic he'll return from ACL and LCL surgery in time for Week 1 next season. They'd prefer it if he stayed there for the entire slate of games in 2018, too.