INDIANAPOLIS – Hit after hit on Sunday, the oft-injured Carson Wentz kept getting up.
If nothing else on Sunday, Wentz showed the 63,347 inside of Lucas Oil Stadium that his 6-5, 240-pound frame can take a hit.
But when that’s the biggest takeaway from the day, it’s not a good afternoon for the offensive unit.
“Unfortunately, (Wentz) showed how tough he was today and that doesn’t really feel good for the offensive line,” Ryan Kelly said accurately after the 28-16 loss to the Seahawks.
Wentz finished Sunday going 25-of-38 (65.8 percent) for 251 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was hit or sacked on 10 of his 41 drop backs and got little help from his run game.
Considering all the practice time Wentz missed this camp, his individual performance in Sunday’s season opener wasn’t too bad.
And he isn’t anywhere near the top of the list for reasons why the Colts lost on Sunday.
“I thought there was a lot of good,” Frank Reich said of Wentz’s Colts debut. “I thought he seemed comfortable. The operation seemed fine. It wasn’t a perfect game obviously. There were some mistakes. But we all make mistakes.”
One thing both Reich and Wentz mentioned after Sunday’s 8th straight Week 1 loss, was how the offense had a few communication issues in pass protection.
Wentz, himself, said he wanted to have a few plays back in setting up the protection in front of him.
In total though, Wentz walks away from his first game since being benched in early December last season with some positives.
“Coming away from it, I think the way we started the game, obviously we would love to score there, but the way we came out and moved the ball, that was encouraging,” the 28-year-old Wentz said. “The way we finished offensively, getting that touchdown late, I think was definitely very encouraging and something we can build off of.
“Outside of those two drives, we got to be better. There’s stuff we can learn from, but I think we can take those two drives and see what we can do and what we are made of and build from there.”
Wentz avoided the major mistake and showed off some ability to make plays off-script. The quarterback added that he didn’t feel any limitations with his foot, which he had surgery on six weeks ago.
How will Wentz feel waking up on Monday after getting hit 10 times in his first game with the Colts?
That’s definitely something he was hoping to leave in Philadelphia.
If the communication from Wentz, and the individual blocking of the group up front can improve, Sunday’s performance was a good sign from the Colts new quarterback.
