Perhaps there will come a time when Carson Wentz wants to talk about having to watch the Philadelphia Eagles win their first Super Bowl.
For the man expected to be the next franchise quarterback for the Eagles
Robert Griffin III Jersey , it wasn’t going to be the moments after Nick Foles led a 41-33 win over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on Sunday
night.
Wentz said he just wanted to celebrate with the Super Bowl MVP and the rest of his teammates, which he did. He shared quiet conversation in the locker room
with owner Jeffrey Lurie before tight end Brent Celek grabbed him by the
shoulders and said, ”Brothers for life.”
A few minutes later, Wentz, Foles and Nate Sudfeld, the backup since Wentz’s season-ending knee injury in Week 14, huddled near their lockers and bolted out
a door, headed to an area off-limits to reporters.
Wentz didn’t flat-out say no when asked if he wanted to talk, and got a little testy when a reporter tried to find out what ”soon” meant. The No. 2
overall pick in the 2016 draft smiled a lot, too, as he wandered the locker
room.
”You just know it’s tough when you talk to him sometimes,” receiver Torrey Smith said. ”It would be tough for me. He would have been the MVP of the league
if he didn’t get hurt. You know that’s tough.”
Wentz, who walked gingerly and didn’t step into throws while making tosses alongside Foles during warmups, tore two ligaments in his left knee in a win
over the Los Angeles Rams in December.
Foles and the Philadelphia offense were up and down through three regular-season games and the playoff opener, a 15-10 win over Atlanta.
But in his final two postseason games, Foles threw for 725 yards and six touchdowns, three in each game. He even caught a scoring pass in the Super
Bowl.
After the Eagles fell behind for the first time in the fourth quarter against the Patriots, Foles guided 14-play, 75-yard drive to what ended up being the
winning score – an 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Zach Ertz.
When Brady’s desperation pass hit the ground in the end zone on the final play, Wentz stormed the field alongside everyone else. And that sideline had
some other key players in street clothes – two-time All-Pro left tackle Jason
Peters and speedy running back Darren Sproles.
Oh, and Wentz held the Lombardi Trophy over his head during the celebration.
”When he went down, the foundation had been laid so strong that we weren’t usually swayed by anything,” Ertz said. ”We lost so many guys through this
journey. Carson just gave us confidence every time we stepped on the field at
the beginning of the season.”
Coach Doug Pederson lauded Wentz for staying engaged with his teammates after the injury. He was leading the NFL with 33 touchdown passes when he got hurt and
finished just one behind league leader Russell Wilson of Seattle.
”He was in there in the mornings studying the tape with the quarterbacks like he always does,” Pederson said. ”And then he’d come to practice and just watch.
Any advice that he had for Nick he would give it. If he felt like it wasn’t
necessary, he wouldn’t give it. Just a great resource for Nick.”
Wentz says he plans to be ready for the regular season in September. If not, Foles is under contract for another season, and the Eagles could get offers from
teams looking for a starter after what the sixth-year pro did in the
playoffs.
”I’m not going to say it’s bittersweet,” Smith said. ”But you know as a competitor you want to be on the field. I know he’s genuinely happy for Foles
and this team. And I know more so than anything this is motivation for him to
come back stronger than ever and to help lead this team back to this
position.”
From time to time during the offseason, the Eagles will also get the question some just can’t resist asking after a backup becomes a Super Bowl MVP. Who’s the
starter?
”Man, here you go
Mark Andrews Jersey ,” receiver Alshon Jeffery said. ”Shut you off, man. You know who is throwing the ball. Carson, of course.”
As far as talking, though, Wentz deferred to Foles on this night.
—
BOSTON — Last Saturday in Seattle, Mariners left-hander Wade LeBlanc pitched what had to be the game of his journeyman career in outdueling Steven Wright and
handing the Boston Red Sox a 1-0 defeat.
The Mariners haven’t won since as they head into Friday night’s rematch between the two pitchers in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night at
Fenway Park.
The Red Sox won the Sunday game in Seattle and then lost the first two games in Minnesota before rebounding a 9-2 win and Rick Porcello’s ninth win of the
season on Thursday.
After losing the game Sunday, the Mariners were swept in a three-game series by the Yankees in the Bronx — to start a difficult 10-game swing through the
East that concludes with a four-game series in Baltimore.
LeBlanc, who has been pitching well in his latest role, is 3-0 with a 2.63 ERA and has yielded only 11 earned runs in nine starts — capped by 7 2/3 shutout
innings (two hits, no walks, nine strikeouts) against the Red Sox.
He is just 33-35 with a 4.23 ERA in his career, but much of the negative numbers are in the past — at least for now.
After beating the Red Sox, he said, “That’s a stout lineup over there, but the fact that me and Z (catcher Mike Zunino) were able to mix things up and put
them in the rocking chair makes things easier. Everything was executed and
that’s really all I can say. It’s the most important thing for me — it’s to
execute pitches. Today, me and Z were able to do that.”
But the team has faltered since, blowing a 5-0 lead in Wednesday’s game before losing 4-3 on Thursday.
“Coming in here, we have been playing very good baseball,” said Seattle manager Scott Servais, whose team has dropped five of its last seven. “We know
what kind of ballclub they have with the power and the bullpen. I thought we
were right in the game the last couple of days.
“But you have to hit on the road. You have to get big hits on the road. We just didn’t get it done. It doesn’t detract or take away from anything that
we’ve done to this point. Our guys are not down at all.”
The Boston bats snoozed through the first two games in Minneapolis, wasting starts by Chris Sale and David Price. The bats broke out Thursday, avoiding the
sweep and leaving the Red Sox (50-26) as one of three American League teams with
50 wins.
“I think it was just a couple of tough days,” Mookie Betts, who hit is 19th homer of the season Thursday, said after the game. “We came out ready to swing
it and it just showed what we can do.”
Wright has been outstanding since making his delayed 2018 debut (after knee surgery and a 15-game MLB suspension). He is 2-1 with a 1.23 ERA and gave up
just the one losing run in the matchup with LeBlanc.
“He’s been great. Outstanding, really,” Cora said. “I heard a lot of good things about him before I got here and he’s showed why.”
He is 2-2 with a 1.31 ERA in four games (two starts) against the Mariners. Kyle Seager is 3-for-9 and Nelson Cruz 2-for-6 (both .333), and Zunino is
1-for-8 (.125) and Dee Gordon 1-for-6 (.167) against the knuckleballer.
LeBlanc is 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA in three career starts against Boston. The Current Red Sox roster is a combined 3-for-16 against him. J.D. Martinez is
2-for-3 (.667) and no one has with more than three at-bats against
him.
