The Indianapolis Colts are keeping Jacob Eason on the active roster (for now), but that doesn’t mean he’s the backup quarterback in the event Carson Wentz is injured to the point where he can’t play.
Instead, the Colts are expected to make Brett Hundley the backup quarterback over Eason despite the former staying on the practice squad until gamedays. Head coach Frank Reich told the media this week his reasons why that is the case.
“We made that decision earlier in the week last week, really based on experience,” Reich said Monday. “We look at it and said Jacob’s (Eason) done a good job and – we talked to each of them one-on-one and what I said to Jacob was, ‘Jacob, you’re on the right track, you’re doing the right thing. This is not about you. This is about Brett’s (Hundley) experience.’”
When Wentz initially went down with the ankle injury in Week 2, it was Eason who got the call with the Colts down three points. He wound up throwing an interception to Jalen Ramsey late in the fourth quarter on his second pass attempt.
Even though having Eason play would help him in the “he isn’t experienced” department, the history that Hundley has shown the Colts is enough to give him the bump as the backup.
“He’s started nine games, he’s led two fourth-quarter game-winning drives. He’s experienced. He’s a very poised young man. We’re going on the road, playing in a difficult environment and just felt like if Carson (Wentz) wouldn’t play, that would the best option for us,” Reich said. “As far as going forward, we’ll evaluate that this week. We’ve got to sit down and talk that through and see how we feel about it going forward.”
Hundley’s only starting experience came in 2017 when he filled in for Aaron Rodgers. During that span, he completed 60.8% of his passes for 1,836 yards, nine touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 70.6 passer rating.
It will be interesting to see how the Colts continue to handle the backup quarterback situation when Sam Ehlinger returns from the injured reserve list. He was designated for return this week and should be back relatively soon before the 21-day window closes.
But for Week 4, the Colts will have three quarterbacks active with Hundley being the primary backup to Wentz.
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