Frank Reich on Carson Wentz: ‘I love sticking my neck out for people I believe in’

INDIANAPOLIS — From the moment Frank Reich realized Carson Wentz was available, the Colts head coach and offensive architect started advocating to bring Wentz to Indianapolis.

Reich had felt a special connection with Wentz from the moment they met in the pre-draft process, played a critical role in developing the quarterback into an MVP candidate in Philadelphia, kept an eye on Wentz after Reich left the Eagles for Indianapolis.

The Colts coach saw Wentz’s disastrous 2020 season, the fallout that made him available.

But Reich believes in Wentz, believes in the quarterback’s ability and, although he realizes his support for Wentz puts him and his ability to work with quarterbacks under the microscope, the Colts head coach feels no trepidation about his decision to step out in faith.

“I love sticking my neck out for people I believe in,” Reich said. “I believe in this team, I believe in Carson. I feel good about it.”

Indianapolis explored a lot of quarterback options this offseason.

Carson Wentz, right, and Frank Reich talk when both were with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Reich has said the team fully expected to find its next franchise quarterback in the draft at some point, and the Colts were in the mix for Matthew Stafford, although they were never going to pay the price the Los Angeles Rams did to get the longtime Detroit Lions star.

But when the talk turned to Wentz, Reich’s belief in the quarterback was easy to see, and the Colts, led by owner Jim Irsay and general manager Chris Ballard, are betting heavily on Reich’s ability to work with quarterbacks, a place they consider their head coach to be among the league’s best.

“When you talk to Frank Reich and hear him talk about (Wentz), I couldn’t be more excited,” Irsay said in March after the trade became official. “I want to emphasize that we had some long, long, hard conversations over this past month or so, really trying to vet this thing through, if it’s the right direction to go in. In the end, we felt it was.”

Reich is well aware of the criticism Wentz has taken in Philadelphia, on the field and off, for leading the league in sacks and interceptions and for veiled criticisms about his ability to handle adversity, although Reich has said this offseason that he doesn’t believe the Eagles’ decision to draft Jalen Hurts led to Wentz’s downfall in Philadelphia.

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When Reich looks at Wentz’s final season with the Eagles, he saw problems all over the field, problems that made it awfully hard to play quarterback at a high level.

Reich does not believe Wentz is “broken,” a player who needs to be fixed.

“I just cringe when I hear stuff like that,” Reich said. “We’ve talked a lot about ‘why the poor play last year?’ I’m just very confident that he has a team around him, and I think the culture fit — you guys know how I feel about the Eagles, how highly I think of that organization — but sometimes in sports, it’s just one of those transitions that’s going to end up being good for both organizations. I think it’s going to be good for Carson.”

Wentz, who wasn’t able to be at the first day of the Colts’ voluntary offseason workouts on Monday because of an illness that is not COVID-related, has thrown himself into his new team since news of the trade became official.

For weeks now, Wentz has been in the Indianapolis area, throwing with Colts receivers at high school fields, and when he’s healthy again and able to join the team’s offseason workouts, he’ll already have a little chemistry with his new targets.

From throwing in California with Michael Pittman Jr. and Dezmon Patmon to a single session with T.Y. Hilton and sessions with other receivers, Wentz has been hard at work building new connections.

“It’s going to take a little bit, but I think we’ll be fine, once we get to throwing, once we understand each other,” Hilton said. “The one throwing session we had was pretty good.”

Reich isn’t surprised.

Whatever’s been said and written about Wentz’s leadership in Philadelphia, Reich has always believed in that part of the Wentz package.

“The quarterbacks I’ve worked with have been some of the hardest workers on the team, and Carson’s no exception to that,” Reich said. “Then, just his natural leadership ability, taking over and saying ‘Hey guys, let’s get together and throw,’ that’s our team.”

Philip Rivers did the same thing last offseason, organizing informal practice sessions with the Colts despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

And Colts receivers are ready to start building chemistry with Wentz, whose arm strength and preferences will play a key role in establishing a spot in the offense this season.

“They want to be there. They want Carson to feel comfortable throwing to them, and Carson wants to learn their body language, talk through stuff,” Reich said. “Carson is very opinionated, in a good way. He’s got a loud voice, and when I say loud voice, he’s got a strong conviction about what he believes and why he believes it, from everything from pass concepts to the way you run routes. Like most quarterbacks. I think it’s been good for him and the receivers.”

Reich and the rest of the offensive staff have been hard at work tailoring the Colts offense to their new quarterback’s strengths. Wentz will be the fourth starting quarterback Reich has had in his four seasons as the head coach in Indianapolis, and the former NFL quarterback has arguably been able to help the first three — Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett and Rivers — come close to maximizing their potential at that point in their careers, despite all three coming off of difficult circumstances.

Part of that success is because of the way Reich adapts his offense to fit the man under center.

“The conversations we’ve had the last couple of weeks with Carson and what he can do, capability-wise, he can run, do everything, I’m sure Frank and him have had in-depth conversations about what the future holds for this offense and what we can change,” center Ryan Kelly said. “That’s always been the biggest thing I’ve seen with Frank, is the adaptability of our offense.”

Reich knows it might take some time for Wentz to reach his potential in the Indianapolis offense, the way it took Luck and Rivers a month or two at the start of their seasons for the roster to jell around them and the coaches to tinker the offense to fit them perfectly.

But Reich has no reservations about his decision to stump for Wentz as the Colts’ potential franchise quarterback.

“I think we’ve got to be patient,” Reich said. “But I’m confident we got the right player.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts’ Frank Reich sticks his neck out for Carson Wentz