Carson Wentz Responds To Accusatory Report: 'I Know I Have Flaws'

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Carson Wentz responded to a recent accusatory media report that labeled him "selfish," challenging some details in the report but ultimately reflecting on his drive to improve himself, as both a player and a teammate.

"I know who I am," Wentz told a small group of Eagles beat reporters, including NBC10. "I know how I carry myself, I know I'm not perfect, I know I have flaws. So I'm not going to sit here and say it was inaccurate and completely made up."

The recent report in Philly Voice cited more than half a dozen anonymous sources in laying much of the blame for the Eagles 2018 struggles on their star quarterback's shoulders. Sources indicated that Wentz's decline from an MVP-caliber player in 2017 who went 11-2 to a 6-7 player in 2018 was in part due to an "uncompromising" nature and a refusal to "run Foles' stuff" and adapt to new coaches.

Response to the PhillyVoice report was swift and fierce, with media outlets and Wentz's teammates calling the entire story a fabrication and characterizing it as a "hit piece."

>>How Eagles Players Responded To That Report About Carson Wentz

Wentz did say he would have preferred any issues be dealt with face to face. But he sees it as an opportunity to grow.

"It's never fun to read," he said in the interview, saying it took him by surprise as he was eating breakfast with his wife, getting ready for quiet time with his Bible. "[But] you look at it and like, ‘well, if someone did have this perception of me, why? What have I done wrong? What can I get better at?'"

As to the differences and Wentz's alleged "bullying" of coaches — the report specified offensive coordinator Mike Groh — Wentz said the report had mischarcterized the situation.

"Groh and I talked to each other that day when it came out, and I think we all know that never took place," Wentz said, noting that "competitive arguments" happen, and that they're important. "That stuff happens. That's, I think, what good football teams have, the ability to respectfully do that and kind of be stubborn and those things...In my opinion, [Groh] is a very good football mind and in my opinion I feel like I have something to contribute, too, so I thought we had some really healthy dialogue. To say, quote, ‘bullied him,' I'd say that's kind of disrespectful to Groh. I don't think anyone bullies Coach Groh."

Importantly, Wentz refuted the notion that he'd ever flat out said, "I'm not running" a certain play, and certainly not because it was thought of as "Foles' stuff."

Wentz admitted that the difficulties of the past year have had their toll on him, even if the outside world couldn't see it.

"I realize like I maybe wasn't the greatest teammate at times because I was emotionally kind of all over the place," he said, noting the frustrations of falling injured for the second year in a row, and watching, for the second year in a row, Nick Foles helm the team into the playoffs. "I was ecstatic to see the guys kind of rally. I think it was awesome for Nick to show there wasn't a fluke...But at the same time, there's the real emotions that, again the same thing, I want to be out there. Here we are again, and when I went down we were losing, and here we're winning. There's all those real emotions that you've got to battle."

Foles led a late-season tunaround, salvaging the defending Super Bowl champs' season and bringing them within a drive of the NFC Championship game. But he's likely to accept a job elsewhere next season. Head coach Doug Pederson has already named Wentz the Eagles' 2019 starter.

But there's one thing the report definitely got right: Foles and Wentz are close. With everything Wentz was going through at the end of the year, there's no doubt he had Foles' back.

"I love Nick. Nick and I are great friends and strong believers and we have the same values and everything," Wentz said, noting that they've learned from each other. "But we'd be the first to say our personalities are kind of different. But that's why I think we were such good friends to some extent as well."

Wentz, who is still recovering from a stress fracture in his back, said he hopes to be ready to begin workouts in the spring.

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