Malcolm Jenkins and Lane Johnson are down in Orlando this week as they represent the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2019 NFL Pro Bowl. Unsurprisingly, both players were asked for their thoughts on the bombshell PhillyVoice report about Carson Wentz.
MALCOLM JENKINS
From CBS Tampa’s Justin Granit:
JENKINS: You know, I think at any point in time, when you don’t understand something, you just start to speculate. And I think it’s been hard for people to grasp how we’ve had two starting quarterbacks, you know, both contributed to success for the last two years, and not have any issues. But Carson’s a good teammate, I have nothing bad to say about him. He’s a great player on the field, he’s a great teammate off [the field]. And like I said, nobody’s — at least, from what I’ve seen — nobody has issues with Carson on our team. I think people are trying to figure it out and speculate, and you get those kind of articles.
Q: Is there any truth to it? I mean, to be a great quarterback, you kind of have to at times be selfish and things like that, but is there any truth to any of what was said in there?
JENKINS: Well, I didn’t read the whole article. I only started responding when people were trying to say I was the one making the quotes, which is crazy. But nah, I think any great player is going to be confident. I think any great player is going to know what he likes, is going to be demanding. I’m the same way with the [defensive] coordinator, where I can go say, “No, I don’t want to run this.” Or, you know. So I think [Wentz] being assertive or anything like that, is what you want out of your starting quarterback. He’s a leader. But no, I don’t think — like I said, I didn’t read the article, so I don’t know exactly what the quotes were — but I’m guessing it probably was inaccurate.
Q: For you, he’s your guy going forward?
JENKINS: He’s going to be our starting quarterback. I don’t think anybody doubts that. Yeah, he’s our future. The biggest thing, if anything, is we’re just like trying to convince him to slide a couple more times so he doesn’t get hurt. [laughs] But other than that I don’t think anyone doubts Wentz is our starting quarterback.
LANE JOHNSON
From CBS Tampa’s Justin Granit:
GRANIT: I wanted to get your reaction to the Wentz story out there and kind of your thoughts of what’s going on with that?
JOHNSON: Well, I think earlier in this year when things weren’t going good, and especially in a town like Philly, a lot of buzz gets created, and a lot of drama. So that’s all I see it as, is drama. And nothing new to the city, nothing new to us. So it’ll blow over and that’ll be that.
GRANIT: Do you pay any credence to an article like that?
JOHNSON: Not really. I showed my support for Wentz. And just, there’s so much that his the papers nowadays. So, it is what it is.
From ESPN’s Dianna Russini:
RUSSINI: Some people have questioned why did you need to come out and say that? Because there’s always reports out there that could perhaps be filled away as just gossip. Why did you guys feel the need to go out and actually tweet about it?
JOHNSON: Just to give clarity to the situation. I think whenever stuff hits the fan and people want initial reactions from the players, and how it is inside the locker room, and that’s how we treat it. Just noise. That’s how we’ll always treat stuff like that.
RUSSINI: Who is Carson Wentz as a quarterback, as a person, as a player?
JOHNSON: First of all, he’s a country guy. Stays close to his roots, to his friends and family. Just an outgoing guy. Fun to be around, creates a lot of energy. Kind of goofy at times, that’s just his personality, what makes everybody love him so much.
RUSSINI: And your message to Eagles fans who think, ‘Oh, wait, there could be some truth to this.’ What would you say to people in Philly?
JOHNSON: The truth is you need to go get your Wentz jersey and show your support as well.
In addition to Jenkins and Johnson, the following players have publicly shown support for Wentz:
Fletcher Cox
Brandon Brooks
Zach Ertz
Torrey Smith
Nate Sudfeld
Jason Kelce
Chris Maragos
Kamu Grugier-Hill
Stefen Wisniewski
Avonte Maddox
Chris Long
Wendell Smallwood
Rodney McLeod
Golden Tate