Just like that, the Super Bowl MVP goes to the bench, and for this team it’s no big deal.
Such is life with the Philadelphia Eagles, where egos are suppressed or even non-existent and the good of the team is all that matters.
Carson Wentz took over the reins as Eagles quarterback this week after a 9 ½ month rehab, and Nick Foles returned to the bench after leading the franchise to its first Super Bowl championship.
And the transition occurred as seamlessly and easily and smoothly as you would imagine.
“Obviously, for really everybody outside looking in, it’s an interesting dynamic anytime something like that happens,” Wentz said Wednesday. “And obviously Nick, the success he had, Super Bowl MVP, we as an organization, myself included, we owe him a lot. He did some amazing things.
“So handling the transition, from the outside looking in, you might think it would be hard, might think it might it tough, but with Nick and my relationship, we’re so close.
“First and foremost, we’re brothers in Christ, so we realize there’s a bigger picture. We realize there’s a lot more to it. We don’t know what next season’s going to look like for really any of us, but right now we’re going to enjoy what we have together and keep lifting each other up.”
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Foles rallied the Eagles to a win over the Rams in L.A. after Wentz got hurt, then beat the Giants and Raiders to lock up a first-round bye and No. 1 seed.
All he did in the postseason was fashion one of the finest series of games ever by a Super Bowl winner, and then he finished his nine-game stint as Wentz’s replacement with a win over the Falcons and a loss Sunday to the Bucs.
“I’m grateful,” Foles said Sunday, when Wentz’s return was expected but not official. “I’m blessed to have played this game for as long as I’ve had. Whatever the team needs of me, I want to do and help in any way possible.”
Sunday’s loss in Tampa may end up being Foles’ final appearance in an Eagles uniform.
If that’s the case, he finishes with the fifth-most wins by a quarterback in Eagles history, the highest winning percentage in Eagles history, the highest passer rating in Eagles history and the sixth-most touchdown passes in franchise history.
Despite never playing a full season and spending 2015 and 2016 with other teams.
“The greatest thing for me is that room has no egos, and Nick all along has understood that this is Carson's football team,” Doug Pederson said.
“We drafted Carson to be the guy. And we owe a lot of gratitude to Nick Foles for what he's done and how he's led this football team. And he's a pro's pro. So no egos. They check them at the door.
“He'll be very supportive, has been very supportive, and will be that way from here on.”
Wentz went 11-2 as a starter, so without him, there is no No. 1 seed and probably is no championship.
Foles went on a record-setting run and without him maybe there’s no championship, either.
Together, they were unstoppable. And wherever Foles goes next, whatever level of greatness Wentz achieves, these two quarterbacks will forever be linked as best friends, as unselfish teammates and as champions.