Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz will officially get the start in Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
This was expected as Wentz returned to practice in full this week. However, the formality of naming Wentz the starter is now official given what head coach Frank Reich said to the media following Friday’s practice.
Reich told reporters that the final step in the process was to get Wentz to practice in full for an entire week. He did that so he is ready to go for the opener.
“Carson (Wentz) will start. He’s been full all week. He’s looked good. I think he’s looked good and he’s ready to go,” Reich said Friday. “Yeah, that was it. It was stack three practices in a row, try to be full at every practice and then respond well the next day. We were able to get that.”
The story for Wentz has been rough to begin. First, he had to undergo surgery on his foot just a few days into training camp. After recovering for a few weeks, he returned to practice just to be placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list as a close contact.
Wentz missed most of training camp and all of the preseason due to the foot injury and then missed most of last week due to being on the COVID-19 list.
For Reich, he has full confidence that Wentz knows the playbook by memory despite the lack of reps with the offense throughout the preseason.
“The good thing is – it’s fair, but we don’t have to throw anything at him. We have it narrowed down for a game plan. So, it’s whatever is on that call sheet and I’m sure he probably has it memorized by now,” Reich said. “Now it’s just a question of going over and over it and just playing it out, visualizing it in your mind, going through all the progressions, getting the ball out on time, making the right checks. Just play the position and be yourself. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, just go out there and play a good football game.”
Wentz will be the fourth quarterback to start a season-opener for the Colts since Reich took over as head coach in 2018.
And it’s now official. He’s set to make his debut wearing the horseshoe on Sunday when the Seahawks visit the Circle City.
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