Brett Favre explains his comments on Carson Wentz: 'It was just my opinion'
Retired quarterback Brett Favre sparked the ire of an entire fanbase last week when he waded into the Carson Wentz vs. Nick Foles debate that Philadelphia Eagles fans will never stop having. He said that the Eagles and head coach Doug Pederson — who also happens to be Favre’s former backup and good friend — should’ve kept Foles instead of Wentz because of how Foles played in and leading up to the Super Bowl.
Favre’s comments (and Pederson’s laughable response) were big news for a few days, but then the Eagles played on Sunday and somehow lost to the New York Giants and everyone forgot about it. So why would Favre talk about it yet again after what happened last time? No one knows, but he did it anyway.
‘Not knocking Carson at all’
In a recent interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio, Favre attempted to explain his comments.
“Doug and I don’t have a problem with each other. It is my opinion. It’s not his. What he said is — I don’t disagree with him. If I were him, I would have said the same things. They chose Carson Wentz. I’m not saying that’s wrong. I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just saying that based on that year, how Nick played, not just because he won the Super Bowl as a starting quarterback, but how he led that team. And there’s no question to me that the guys like Carson Wentz. There’s no question to me that he has the potential to be that type of player, meaning capable of leading a team to Super Bowl. Will it be Philly? I don’t know. Right now Doug in the organization is committed to him and it was just my opinion that based on just strictly based on how Nick played and the results, I would have stuck with him. Not knocking Carson at all.”
In short, he still would have stuck with Foles based on his performance over three regular season games and three playoff games (including the Super Bowl), but he understands why Pederson defended him. In fact, Favre probably would have done the same if he was the head coach.
Could Wentz be pressing?
Favre was asked what’s wrong with Wentz, who is having the worst season of career. Favre attempted to diagnose it but didn’t get very far.
“Maybe he’s pressing. There’s certainly reasons that we’re not privy to, because we’re not in their meetings, we’re not in their day-to-day operations. I look at it from when I evaluate a quarterback, you know, there’s those that when everything is going well you want them in the lineup. They’re not going to hurt you. But then when the chips are down, you need a play, it’s all or nothing, we’re behind, or all of our receivers hurt, we’ve got a Band-Aid group of guys that, when that guy can elevate those players, you know, take Aaron Rodgers – and of course he’s in a different stratosphere — but it doesn’t matter who plays receiver for them. He makes it look so easy. That’s what you’re looking for.
“And every guy is different, you know? Drew Brees is a different dynamic quarterback than Aaron Rodgers. But when he’s in there, he makes it look easy. And certainly Tom Brady, you know, Russell Wilson, they make the average Joe’s better. They make an average team or maybe an above-average team better, year in and year out. And that’s what you’re looking for, to me, that’s what you’re looking for. Because they’ve had a lot of injuries. There’s no question. Carson is not immune to it himself, but they’re just OK, and for a lot of reasons, but can he make us better than OK? Or can someone else make us better than OK? That’s the question.”
Aside from “maybe he’s pressing,” Favre doesn’t really say much about Wentz. He spends time talking about the kind of quarterback that Wentz needs to be, which is a guy who can elevate the players around him, especially when the players around him are replacements of replacements due to injuries.
Maybe Favre didn’t spend much time talking about Wentz because of his good friend Doug Pederson. You can’t accurately diagnose what’s wrong with Wentz without mentioning the coaching of Pederson and his staff, who haven’t been doing Wentz any favors. But since Favre and Pederson don’t seem to want to criticize each other even a little bit, Favre was never going to go there. His true thoughts on Pederson’s coaching will remain a mystery, as will the reasons he decided to step into the Wentz-Foles debate yet again.
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