The Washington Commanders confirmed Monday that Carson Wentz underwent surgery on his fractured ring finger earlier in the day in Los Angeles.
Wentz is projected to miss between four to six weeks because of the injury. Wentz made the trip out west to visit a specialist after breaking the finger on his throwing hand in Thursday’s 12-7 win over the Chicago Bears.
The injury — and reported timeline — is a blow to Wentz and the Commanders as the team now likely turns to backup Taylor Heinicke for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers and beyond.
This won’t be the first time that Heinicke has had to step in for an injured starter. Last year, the 29-year-old replaced an injured Ryan Fitzpatrick in Week 1 after the signal-caller suffered a season-ending hip injury. Heinicke did a commendable job, leading Washington to a 7-8 record in 15 starts. The Commanders finished the year ranked 21st in offensive DVOA, a Football Outsiders metric that measures efficiency, under Heinicke — marking their highest ranking since 2016.
If Wentz is out a full six weeks, he’ll miss the following games: Green Bay, at Indianapolis, Minnesota, at Philadelphia, at Houston and Atlanta. If he’s placed on injured reserve, which is a possibility, Wentz will have to miss a minimum of four games and won’t be eligible to return until the Texans contest on Nov. 20.
Two of those contests were going to be particularly notable for Wentz as he was scheduled to face his former teams in the Colts and the Eagles. Washington’s Oct. 30 matchup would have been the first time Wentz returned to Lucas Oil Stadium since Indianapolis traded him to the Commanders in March. And Washington’s Nov. 14 game in Philadelphia would have marked the first time that Wentz played at Lincoln Financial Field as a visitor.
Instead, Heinicke will be tasked with trying to keep Washington’s season afloat. The quarterback will get the chance over rookie Sam Howell. The Commanders drafted the North Carolina product in the fifth round this past spring, but coach Ron Rivera said consistently throughout the offseason that Heinicke was entrenched as Wentz’s backup.
“Please understand that this is a guy that is going to grow and develop over a period of time,” Rivera said of Howell in April. “There’s no hurry to force him out there or anything like that.”
Howell performed well in the preseason — he displayed an impressive arm and ability to scramble — but not well enough to push for the main backup role. Howell, though, will now become Heinicke’s backup and be active on game days.
The Commanders will hope that Heinicke can jolt a struggling offense. Washington has only averaged 17 points per game this season — the fourth-worst mark in the league. But Heinicke adds a different element to Washington’s offense as his mobility can keep plays alive. The 29-year-old rushed for 313 yards in 2021 and he bought time on passing plays by moving outside the pocket.
Yet, Heinicke comes with limitations. Specifically, the quarterback struggles with accuracy on deep shots down the field. According to Pro Football Focus, Heinicke completed just 32.8% of his passes that went 20 yards or more. That was the ninth-worst completion percentage among quarterbacks who had at least 18 such attempts. Heinicke took 67 deep shots last year.
The lack of physical gifts is namely why Heinicke went undrafted out of Old Dominion in 2015 — and why the Commanders sought to seek an upgrade under center in the spring by trading for Wentz.
Wentz’s injury also marks another quarterback change for the Commanders. The franchise hasn’t had a quarterback start every game in a season since 2017, Kirk Cousins’ last year in Washington.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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