Why summer Colts trips to Texas may help make up for lost time for QB Wentz at camp
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Friday brought the latest round of bad luck at Colts training camp in Westfield.
Coming off a near-perfect showing Thursday, the team on Friday awaited the details on quarterback Carson Wentz’s foot injury suffered late in practice Thursday.
For now, the new franchise quarterback is out indefinitely. Second-year quarterback Jacob Eason took the first team reps on Friday.
So, what can save the Colts for the time being?
Certainly a backup quarterback with NFL game experience to work alongside Eason is a must.
Did Wentz inadvertently help himself already this summer?
Without much of any playing up publicly on social media, Wentz organized two separate trips for his new Colts playmakers.
The home base for “Colts South” was set with veterans coming for one three-day period and rookies visiting for a separate three-day stay.
“We went out to Houston with Carson, out there for three days throwing with him,” wide receiver Parris Campbell said. “Carson is a great guy man.”
The morning workouts allowed the squad to get acclimated before even taking the field together at Grand Park for training camp — and it was all sparked by Wentz.
“Carson kind of got us all there, organized everything,” wide receiver Desmond Patmon said. “He’s kind of the mastermind behind all of that.”
The trips didn’t just include workouts, though. Wentz chalked up a full itinerary featuring trips to the golf course, Topgolf and even to his house to introduce the guys to his two dogs.
“Everyone knows he is talented on the field. We know he has a big arm. But, he is just a great guy. He is a great guy to be around, he is a great leader,” Campbell said.
Colts General Manager Chris Ballard said it was a work period but also a bonding period for them, and that became especially clear when it came to their golf game. Patmon said Wentz beat him on their first outing to the course, but he got revenge the second time they golfed.
“I think I have gotten to know him pretty well,” running back Nyheim Hines said. “I have seen how he acts after he has a bad golf game because we both had a terrible golf day together.”
As the team waits on the foot injury recovery timeline, know this: Wentz working overtime this summer may help lessen the burden of his absence this summer.