Doug Pederson gives Carson Wentz vote of confidence after messy Eagles breakup

To say the Washington Commanders‘ trade for Carson Wentz hasn’t been well received by the media would be an understatement. While he’s five years removed from his near MVP season with the Eagles in 2017, Wentz represents a significant upgrade at the position compared to Taylor Heinicke.

That should be the bottom line, but it’s not. Wentz’s volatile tendencies and propensity to melt in big moments are duly noted. But Washington getting panned over Wentz’s supposed poor leadership intangibles? That crosses a line.

Could he have handled his Eagles divorce with more professionalism?

Obviously, but the league-wide notion that he’s a bad teammate or can’t lead is woefully misguided. Former running back Jonathan Taylor was surprised the team moved on from him after one season and several other Colts penned emotional farewells on social media lauding Wentz’s character and leadership.

If that didn’t debunk this narrative, perhaps Doug Pederson giving him a vote of confidence at the Annual League Meeting will do the trick.

Carson Wentz’s former head coach Doug Pederson still believes in the newly-minted Commanders quarterback.

Here’s what Pederson had to say about Wentz, whom he coached in Philadelphia for five seasons before a distraction-riddled 2020 campaign that ended with Pederson getting fired and Wentz getting traded to the Colts.

"The Commanders are getting a tremendous leader, they’re getting a really good quarterback. They’re getting a guy that’s going to lead that football team and he’ll lead that locker room. He’s going to do everything on and off the field to help that team win."

Hmmm. That’s weird. The last time we checked, Pederson’s and Wentz’s relationship was “fractured beyond repair.” Perhaps Wentz is the one with hard feelings toward Pederson, but this quote speaks volumes either way.

And as far as the Wentz leadership narrative, which becomes less credible seemingly with each passing week, Pederson gave a telling review in terms of what the QB needs to do to win over his new Commanders teammates.

"Just be Carson. Just come in there and lead like he knows how to lead, get everybody involved on offense, get the defensive guys involved. Just be him. He doesn’t have to do anything other than that, really, and they’re going to be OK.I only know him from a couple of years ago, and it’s hard to speak on what he did last year in Indy and what he can do in Washington, but the guys responded to him. Even embracing the young guys and getting them involved in the offseason and how he approaches that, it’s what they’ll see in him.They’re getting a guy that will come in and work hard and try to turn things around."

Pederson’s quotes sure seem to align with that Wentz’s former Colts teammates (and head coach Frank Reich) have said about him since he was made available for trade.

The Athletic reported there were non-football factors that motivated Indy’s decision to pull the plug on Wentz, but as the weeks go by it looks like it had more to do with pressure from owner Jim Irsay, who’s desperate to win and resolve the team’s long-standing QB carousel since Andrew Luck retired before the 2019 season.

Could the Colts have simply given the media what it wanted to hear as opposed to revealing the true impulse behind their decision? It’d be wrong to cast aspersions, but Pederson’s vote of confidence in Wentz after the duo’s ugly breakup in the City of Brotherly Love certainly paints a different picture.