The goal hasn’t changed, but maybe the confidence level has.
Throughout the offseason, during his rehab, Carson Wentz has maintained that his goal is to be ready for Week 1 of the 2018 NFL season. In mid-April, Wentz said he was happy with his rehab, but was very hesitant to talk about timetables aside from the main goal.
Appearing on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football on Monday Morning, Wentz had a pretty positive tone when asked how confident he is about being ready for the Week 1 opener against the Atlanta Falcons.
“I’m very confident,” Wentz said. “It’s a fluid process, so you never know how it’s going to go. But where we’re at, just trying to do what the doctors say and kind of just take it step by step. There’s the times where you feel great and you want to push it more, but you gotta just stay the course with what the doctors are saying. I feel really good and really confident for Week 1.”
Wentz, 25, tore his left ACL and LCL on Dec. 10 in Los Angeles. Since the surgery to repair the injury, Wentz has been progressing through his rehab with the goal to be ready for that opener. That means Wentz would return to the football field nine months after the injury.
When he spoke to reporters last month, Wentz said he didn’t think he needed to play in preseason games, so if he does play in Week 1, it’ll probably be his return to game action.
While the rehab has been going well, Wentz has been very careful not to push it too much. He’s been working with trainers and doctors to make sure the rehab is slow and steady to avoid the risk of more injury. He said there are times when he feels good that he’s tempted to push more.
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During the last couple months, Wentz has also continued to say that he won’t change his style of play. He recognizes the importance of protecting his body and said he’ll learn how to do that more and more as his career progresses.
“But overall as an aggressive player, I’m not going to change, so to speak,” he said. “I’m not going to let this slow me down going forward. I truly believe I’ll come back stronger than ever, especially having to miss the playoffs, miss the Super Bowl. As exciting as it was, there’s that little uneasiness inside of me to have to miss those games that I truly believe I’ll be back stronger than ever. I’m not too worried about it going forward.”