Carson Wentz talks about the anonymous report and how he plans to use it as a learning opportunity

We’ve heard from a lot of coaches and players for the Philadelphia Eagles since the 2018 season wrapped up, but despite rumors and anonymous reports, quarterback Carson Wentz hasn’t been very vocal this offseason. That all changed in the days following the Super Bowl, with Wentz sitting down with Dave Spadaro to talk about his health, expectations for the 2019 season, and charitable efforts, followed by an interview with 94WIP — which included the topic of the now infamous (and oft-challenged) report.

During his Thursday morning interview Angelo Cataldi And The Morning Team on 94WIP, he talked about how it was frustrating as a competitor not to be able to help his team down the stretch, especially two years in a row, but he’s accepted that those are things that are out of his control.

It’s been a couple weeks since an anonymous source from the Eagles locker room reportedly opened up about what it’s like to work with quarterback Carson Wentz, and despite a long list of teammates coming out against the article’s claims, this was the first time Wentz himself spoke on the matter.

WIP host Angelo Cataldi noted that the quarterback said that having to deal with injuries two years in a row may have affected his demeanor, and asked whether that may have been the basis for some of the claims in the article. Wentz said that he wouldn’t say that the situation changed his demeanor drastically, but that even coming back ahead of 2018, he was so focused on getting back — while also being separated from the team during the rehab process — that he lost that element of team.

He went on to say that coming out of the draft he had to deal with some opinionated articles like the one recently written. And as much as he may try to not pay attention to it, when there is criticism brought up, it’s something he takes to heart and then tries to see if there’s something he can work on and try to improve.

Wentz said that all the details of the article didn’t really line up with what he remembered from the season, but if someone did have those issues with him, he would have loved for them to be able to talk to them about it. Since that isn’t what happened, he’ll just try and learn from it the best he can and be a better person and teammate moving forward, but he’s not going to let it drastically change him.

The quarterback said after the report initially came out, he tried to think about who it could have been that had such negative things to say, but then he realized what’s the point, and instead tried to turn it into a learning experience. Wentz says he still has no idea who it was.

Wentz touched a bit on his injuries, saying that he felt 100% confident in his knee last season, but looking back at the film he could tell he wasn’t quite as mobile as he was two years ago — but he wasn’t using that as an excuse for his performance. And he also said that he was in a little bit of pain with his back, but just like so many other players, tried to play through it as best he could.

He also isn’t concerned that he’s “injury prone” noting that football is a contact sport, and anything could happen at any time, but that he can’t play with the fear of being injured. But he has learned different ways to protect himself and try the best to avoid injuries, as well as some of the field ways to help heal a bit faster.

Angelo also asked the quarterback about his out-of-character moment against the Saints when he threw his helmet on the sideline. Wentz said it wasn’t related to being limited by his back, but was just a moment in which he lost his composure — something he’s going to try and work on this offseason.

Earlier in the week Wentz spoke with Dave Spadaro, and the quarterback said he is feeling good and is working on his progression to finally get over the back injury he suffered late in the season. He also said that he’s looking forward to April when the team gets back together for OTAs and that having an entire offseason to train will help tremendously heading into next season.

Specifically, Wentz said he wants to work on putting the knee injury behind him, and on the field, he wants to work on his timing and getting back into the swing of things with his teammates.

He continued to talk about the 2018 season and how it was a bit of a roller coaster for him, especially dealing with injuries and missing the first few and last few games, it was tough for him emotionally. Despite him being on the sideline, Wentz did say it was cool to see his teammates rally late in the season and see them come back for some must win games.

Wentz talked a bit about how the guys spend their offseason and while most will take a break mentally, and maybe take a vacation or two, they’re still all working out and making sure their bodies are right to get back at it — and if someone is working through an injury this is the time to deal with that as well. He said that he’s working through having a similar trip like the one a few years ago when he took his receivers to North Dakota, but he’ll see where they want to go once they get back for OTAs.

The quarterback also looked ahead a little bit and talked about his expectations for 2019. He noted that he always has high expectations, and that he holds himself to a high standard, as well as his teammates. Wentz said that even though they don’t know what the roster is going to look like just yet, “the skies the limit” in his mind and is looking forward to getting back to work.

During both interviews this week, Wentz was sure to talk about his 2nd annual charity softball tournament with his AO1 Foundation, which will be on Friday, May 31 and tickets go on sale Feb. 7. He also said that he’ll be doing another trip to Haiti this offseason and plans to take some of his teammates and friends like in years past.