Jordan Matthews: Carson Wentz Criticism Will Go Away Once QB Returns to Field

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews said criticism of quarterback Carson Wentz will fade once he returns to action for the 2019 NFL season.

Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk passed along comments Matthews made Tuesday on SiriusXM NFL Radio about Wentz, who was described as "selfish" by team sources in a January article by Joseph Santoliquito of PhillyVoice.

"Just reading it, obviously, it was definitely a stretch," he said. "It feels like you're reading a scary story you read to your kid. It's such a stretch. And so, I think the second Carson goes out there, they'll play the Rocky theme music, he'll start ballin' and it'll all be forgotten."

Matthews, a second-round pick of the Eagles in 2014, rejoined Philadelphia in September. He added that players who deal with injuries like Wentz has each of the past two seasons should receive some "grace" for "any slip in character" that did occur.

The 26-year-old quarterback suffered a torn ACL in December 2017 and then watched as backup Nick Foles led the Eagles to a Super Bowl title. His 2018 season also came to a premature end because of a lingering back injury.

In early February, Wentz told reporters he was "confused" about some details in the PhillyVoice story but admitted he does have some "shortcomings."

"I know how I carry myself. I know I'm not perfect. I know I have flaws," he said. "So I'm not going to sit here and say it was inaccurate and completely made up. I'm not going to do that. But at the end of the day, I will say our locker room is really close. If there were guys that had issues, in hindsight, I wish we could have just talked about them."

Wentz enjoyed a strong season before his latest setback. He completed 69.6 percent of his throws for 3,074 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions across 11 appearances. Head coach Doug Pederson confirmed he'll return to the starting role when healthy despite Foles' strong play in relief.

Matthews is an unrestricted free agent, so it's unclear whether he'll be one of Wentz's targets heading into next season.