KANSAS CITY, Missouri – As this is Carson Wentz’s first season as a backup quarterback in the NFL, he is still trying to figure out the right approach to the job.
It's no longer just about preparing himself for the game. He also has to support Patrick Mahomes as best as he can.
“We're just getting started,” Wentz said just before the Chiefs wrapped up their offseason workouts. “We're only here a couple hours a day and a couple days a week and it's not quite as strenuous as it's going to be. So that's going to evolve and I'll kind of find my place. But Pat and I already have a great relationship and that's going to continue to grow and I'm going to continue to find ways I can help.”
“I will find a way to help him in any way I can, off the field, on the field or wherever.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid prefers to have a veteran with years of NFL experience as Mahomes' replacement, primarily to give him a learning partner and sounding board for things he might see in the video room or on the practice or field during his preparation. The Chiefs had veterans Chad Henne, Matt Moore and Blaine Gabbert as Mahomes' replacements before Wentz.
Wentz, who signed with the Chiefs in the offseason, played five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2016 to 2020. The Chiefs are now his fifth NFL team and fourth in as many seasons. He started 93 games in eight seasons with the Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Washington Commanders and Los Angeles Rams.
“I thought Blaine did a good job. [helping Mahomes] when he was here last year,” Reid said. “Carson, I know, did a good job when he was with the Rams. [last season]it was actually a nice game for him when he played for them at the very end. We welcome him. We spoke to him last year when we spoke to Blaine and he was waiting for an opportunity to potentially be in the starting lineup. It was good to put him in that position and if he gets a chance to play, he gets a chance to play.
“Carson looks good. He picks things up quickly, is a smart guy and fits well with the team. He seems like a great person and he's good at it. [quarterback] Room.”
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The way Mahomes needs help from his backup quarterback has changed significantly since he became the starter in 2018. Henne, the backup that year, said he helped Mahomes with many basic principles back then.
“Especially in the beginning, it was definitely beneficial in terms of studying film and identifying defenses,” Henne said. “With his offense in college, the spread offense, there aren't many defenses, so he had to learn that.”
“But eventually he took the lead. After that, we still challenged ourselves. We challenged ourselves in the film room, in the study room, even on the field. If we were watching a blitz video of a third down, especially if it was an exotic team like Baltimore, we would turn the video on and he would say, 'OK, Chad, where did that come from?' He would use the indicators we talked about earlier in his career, and then we would battle to see who could figure it out first.”
Henne, who retired last year, said playing with Mahomes helped him become a better player, even though it was late in his career.
“He's obviously one of the most talented quarterbacks of all time,” Henne said. “The arm angles, the way he moves, the way he creates things, it pushed me to be at my best. I was an old-school dropback passer. Playing with him, I learned the spread offense and spatial awareness instead of just doing one, two, three on my reads.”
“I saw what he saw and thought, 'Man, if I had known this when I was younger, I would have been a lot better.'”
Wentz came to the Chiefs with more success than Henne when he arrived in 2018. He had an MVP-worthy season with the Eagles in 2017, with 33 touchdown passes and seven interceptions before suffering a torn ACL late in the season.
However, he said he has had largely the same experiences as Henne, even though he has only been Mahomes' teammate for a few months.
“He just processes the game really quickly,” Wentz said. “He calls protection, he's in and out of the huddle and makes anticipatory throws, all that stuff, all that stuff you see from afar. But it's just fun to see that and in some ways you just see different windows of play that you might not have seen before because he's playing so quickly out there.”
Mahomes, for his part, pointed out that Wentz fits well into the Chiefs' quarterback group, which also includes two younger players, Chris Oladokun and Ian Book.
“It was really great,” Mahomes said. “You can see why he was on pace to win MVP. The guy can make any shot. He's very smart, intelligent, asks a lot of good questions and he's been in similar offenses before, so it's easy for him to understand.”
Wentz admitted that the transition to being a backup was difficult. When the Chiefs wanted to sign him last year, he wasn't ready to accept the role of backup. This year, he only took the job when it became clear he wasn't going to get a starting job.
He only signed a one-year contract in the hope that he could compete for a regular place elsewhere next year.
“It's different,” Wentz said. “I'm not going to lie.
“I'm trying to learn as much as I can as quickly as I can, build a relationship with all these guys and just keep getting better on the field. You always have to be ready to go when you're needed, so it's no different in that regard.”
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