The Colts didn’t even throw Carson Wentz under the bus the way Washington just did

People thought the Indianapolis Colts did Carson Wentz wrong but that can’t compare to how the Washington Commanders just did him.

At the end of last season, Carson Wentz became somewhat of a scapegoat for the Indianapolis Colts. Indy made clear that it had some other things to address but the team also let everyone know that Carson Wentz wasn’t the right quarterback for the Colts. After Indy’s Week 18 loss, several articles came out that painted Wentz in a bad light before he was ultimately traded to the Washington Commanders.

Recently, Wentz’s name has been coming up in Indianapolis as Matt Ryan has struggled with the Colts but things aren’t necessarily going all that well for Carson Wentz in Washington. With the Commanders sitting at 1-4, head coach Ron Rivera held a press conference on Monday where the media asked him about the team’s struggles.

When asked specifically why the rest of the NFC East has been able to rebuild and Washington hasn’t, Rivera replied, “Quarterback,” seemingly throwing Carson Wentz under the bus. This exchange shook the NFL on Monday for multiple reasons. It’s rare for a head coach to publicly throw the blame on a player, especially one that is still on the team and likely will remain with the team for the next 13 weeks of the regular season.

Ron Rivera throws Carson Wentz under the bus

Rivera’s initial answer was literally just quarterback, he didn’t offer any other explanation. After follow-up questions from a reporter, Rivera highlighted how this is a quarterback-driven league and the successful teams usually have a quarterback that they’ve built around for years. Rivera also went on to say that he has no regrets about trading for Carson Wentz and that Wentz has had some struggles but also some really good moments.

Maybe Rivera was just speaking to a quarterback’s years in a system and not Carson Wentz specifically. Whatever his intention, the world took it as him throwing his quarterback under the bus and that’s a bad look. So much so that Alex Smith, a quarterback who played in Washington under Rivera, criticized the coach during ESPN’s countdown to Monday Night Football.

Quarterback continuity is a real thing, it’s something the Colts are currently going through. However, if that was the point Ron Rivera wanted to make, he should’ve been more specific with his words. Instead, it seems like Carson Wentz is being ostracized by yet another franchise and that’s unfortunate.

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