The Indianapolis Colts have one more game to wrap up the preseason when they head to Ford Field for the finale against the Detroit Lions, and they have still yet to announce a starting quarterback.
Even though Carson Wentz returned to practice on Monday and looked the part of a Week 1 starter, it isn’t expected for the 28-year-old to see any game action during the preseason. So the Colts are still deciding between Jacob Eason and Sam Ehlinger.
As of Monday post-practice, head coach Frank Reich said the team hasn’t yet decided on who will be the starting quarterback for the finale.
“No decision yet. These next couple of days are pretty important so I’ll probably wait until after tomorrow’s practice,” Reich told the media. “I don’t even know if I’m up here tomorrow, but if I were I would probably wait until the next morning. As a staff we’ll get together tomorrow night and kind of work through that decision.”
Both Eason and Ehlinger had bright moments during their respective debuts in the opener against the Carolina Panthers. Then, they came down to earth during the second preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings. Eason struggled with footwork in the pocket and varying his velocity while Ehlinger made some poor decisions that led to turnovers.
With one fewer preseason game, the Colts will use the finale on Friday as a quasi-dress rehearsal in order to get the starters some final reps before the regular season starts.
“It’s a little bit of that. We won’t go into the third quarter or anything, but we’ll try to get the guys good reps. I’m really leaving it to the position coaches and the coordinators,” said Reich. “We’ll give that range. We know what we’re trying to get out of each guy and it doesn’t necessarily have to be the same for every starter. We might want some starters to play a series longer than other starters for various reasons. This is a big week and a good dress rehearsal for us.”
The battle for the backup role will be on when the Colts take the field on Friday, and it will be interesting to see which player gets the starting nod.
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