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INDIANAPOLIS – Carson Wentz has played through a lot in his football career, but he knew this was an injury that was going to knock him out of Sunday’s game.

It took the 11th hit against Wentz on Sunday—marking an astonishing 21 for the season—that finally sent him to the sideline for good.

The limp told the story, but so did a visibly frustrated Wentz throwing his helmet as he got to the sideline, unable to make it to the bench, falling to the sideline turf before finding a seat on a Gatorade cooler.

“I could feel it underneath the pile right away,” Wentz said of his injured right ankle, which came on a third-down hit by Aaron Donald.

“Guys around (the pile) could hear me yelling. It was rolled up on pretty good. I was frustrated.”

An MRI is coming for Wentz, with the Colts still yet to know the severity of the right ankle injury. Wentz, who was not wearing a boot at his post-game press conference, doesn’t believe he broke his ankle.

But a guy that has played through a plethora of injuries in his career couldn’t get through this one to finish the game.

“I taped it up. I tried, but there was just not much stability to go out there and go,” Wentz said.

Up until his injury mid-way through the fourth quarter, Wentz was again giving the Colts a chance to win.

Yes, his shovel pass interception in the second quarter was a bad mistake, but the Colts starting quarterback also had them in a competitive game thanks to his big arm flashing more, creating some plays with his legs and opening up the field with a higher frequency of chunk plays.

Wentz finished Sunday 20-of-31 (64.5 percent) for 247 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Reich thought Wentz was ‘sharp’ and ‘in command’ on Sunday and likes how the new QB has played in two games this season.

When Reich saw Wentz go down, the head coach knew he was likely going to have to turn to Jacob Eason to finish this one.

“He rolled it up pretty bad,” Reich said of Wetnz’s right ankle injury. “It didn’t look good. And sometimes if you go back in right in while it’s still warm, you can maybe gut out a few more plays, but the longer we were off the field there, it just stiffened up.

“He tried, but there was no chance.”

Eason entered for his first ever NFL action and looked how you’d expect. He threw an INT on his second attempt, and finished 2-of-5 for 15 yards under two-minute situations.

Whether the Colts are going to need Eason for this upcoming run on the road (3 straight games on the road) remains to be seen.

It should be noted that Wentz has missed time in his football career due to a variety of injuries (ACL, ribs, back, wrist, concussion, foot and, now, ankle).

Implications on Wentz’s status extends past just the win/loss record of the Colts 2021. His play time this season directly impacts what draft pick the Colts will send to the Eagles next spring (a first-round pick if Wentz plays 75 percent of the season, or 70 percent of the season and the Colts make the playoffs; and a second-round pick if he doesn’t).

Questioning Wentz’s toughness, especially after seeing him get up from 21 hits through two games, would be foolish.

But now, the Colts are on ‘Wentz injury watch’ as they enter a critical early season stretch.

“It’s sore,” Wentz said of his injured ankle in the post-game presser.

“It definitely feels sore. We’ll see how it reacts this week and figure out some scans overnight and go from there.”

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