Before the new week began, the Indianapolis Colts made a roster move that made rookie Sam Ehlinger the backup to starting quarterback Carson Wentz.
Even though he doesn’t have the experience that Brett Hundley has, which is why the latter was the backup over Jacob Eason, head coach Frank Reich explained a bit of the process as to why the Colts feel Ehlinger can overcome that.
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“I think Sam (Ehlinger) has some of the same qualities that Brett (Hundley) has. He has a natural poise to him like Brett does. I think he’s got natural leadership qualities to him that Brett does as well. I think those are real high strengths of both of those guys,” Reich told the media Tuesday.
The Colts will be rolling into Thursday night with two quarterbacks in Wentz and Ehlinger while Hundley was re-signed to the practice squad immediately after he was released on Monday.
Reich mentioned that it will be a week-to-week consideration but the Colts can no longer elevate Hundley from the practice squad on gamedays. If he’s to be available for gamedays, he has to be signed to the active roster.
That said, it seems Ehlinger is the player the Colts want to develop more than anything.
“Sam has played a lot of football, not at this level, but he’s played a lot of winning football and he’s a young guy who we drafted who we want to continue to develop. Then like I said, there are a few other considerations in everything as well. I think he’s healthy,” Reich said. “We’re halfway through the year so you know the offense a little bit better, so on and so forth. It feels like the right move at the time, but it’s still always a week-to-week consideration.”
It will be interesting to see how the development with Wentz unfolds throughout the season because if the Colts need to secure their first-round pick in 2022, we may see more of Ehlinger than we initially thought.
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