Carson Wentz has to stay healthy in 2020 if the Philadelphia Eagles are to challenge for the NFC East crown, in their quest to be the first team in the division to repeat as champs since they did it in 2003 and 2004. The veteran quarterback is giving the team a bit of a scare just two weeks ahead of the season opener on Sept. 13 against the Washington Football Team. Wentz left practice on Sunday with what's being described as a soft tissue injury, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, but the silver lining is he's listed as day-to-day and the ailment itself is viewed as minor.
The latter tidbit likely won't stop many from filing the injury under the stack of questions regarding the durability of Wentz, or lack thereof, going into his fifth NFL season.
There can be no denying the ability of the former second-overall pick when healthy, but Wentz has played a full 16-game season only twice in his first four seasons, and has logged just one offensive drive in the postseason -- the team's storied Super Bowl run in 2017 having been steered by the eventual Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles. This past January, he was knocked out of the game with a concussion after just one completion, and was replaced with Josh McCown en route to the Eagles losing at home to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC wild card round.
These are reasons many point at the drafting of Jalen Hurts in the second round this past April as insurance against Wentz possibly missing time in 2020, although Hurts can't rightly be expected to step in and instantly provide the sort of impact a healthy Wentz could. The rookie stepped in to get additional practice reps on Sunday when Wentz left for medical evaluation, not to return, and he'll probably get more as the Eagles take extra precaution with their starting quarterback and the aforementioned soft tissue injury.
The exact injury has yet to be specified, but the Eagles don't appear too concerned at the moment. Given his history of injury though, no one would blame them if they were.
