Nick Foles' health and form still important for Philadelphia Eagles until Carson Wentz returns

Jay Asser 23:02 17/08/2018
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  • Carson Wentz is expected to return sooner than later this season, but until that time comes, Nick Foles remains crucial to the Philadelphia Eagles’ success.

    The Super Bowl MVP is still the Eagles’ starter with Wentz in the final stages of his recovery from a torn ACL and LCL that cut short his campaign last year.

    Wentz has yet to be cleared for contact by the medical staff and said his availability for the regular season opener against the Atlanta Falcons will be “close”.

    That leaves Foles as the starter for the moment, making his health and form critical for Philadelphia in the short-term.

    Both of those facets were put to the test in the Eagles’ 37-20 loss to the New England Patriots on Thursday in a Super Bowl rematch.

    Foles left the contest with a shoulder strain in the second quarter, when he grabbed his throwing arm after Patriots defensive end Adrian Clayborn swatted his arm to cause a fumble and 54-yard return touchdown.

    After the game, Foles sounded optimistic about the prognosis of the injury.

    “I’ll go in tomorrow and get treatment on it and sort of go from there,” he said. “It feels all right, it feels pretty good. Hopefully there’s no issues.”

    Even if the injury doesn’t sideline Foles, there’s still the question of whether or not he can replicate last year’s magical run.

    After coming on in relief of Wentz, Foles was nothing more than a steady hand in the regular season as he finished with a passer rating of 79.5 in his seven appearances.

    The playoffs, however, were another story as he carved up Atlanta, Minnesota and New England to produce a 115.7 passer rating en route to a title.

    Aside from his stellar 2013 season in which he was hyper-efficient and recorded a 119.2 passer rating, Foles has been an average quarterback capable of rising to the occasion at times.

    He didn’t look sharp against New England on Thursday, completing just 3-of-9 passes for 44 yards. If he misses another preseason game or two, the Eagles will be in a difficult position if Wentz can’t go in the opener.

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