Carson Wentz misses practice, could Brett Hundley or Jacob Eason start vs. Titans?

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz looks increasingly unlikely to play in Week 3 after missing his second straight practice with not one but two sprained ankles. According to Indianapolis beat reporters, Jacob Eason and Brett Hundley were the only Colts quarterbacks participating in Thursday’s practice.

Carson Wentz sits out with sprained ankles

That means for Wentz to play against the Tennessee Titans, he will either need his health to dramatically improve in the next 24 hours or suit up without a single rep in practice this week. He injured both ankles in the Colts’ Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams but told reporters Wednesday that the right one is in worse shape than the left.

“Working through it, a lot of unknown,” Wentz said Wednesday. “See how my body responds and doing everything we can. Each day, shoot, each couple hours it’s got better. We’ll see how it continues to progress, listen to the doctors, listen to my body and see where we’re at.”

Apparently, it did not progress enough for him to practice Thursday, upping the odds that he will miss at least one game due to injury for the fourth time in his six-year NFL career. The Philadelphia Eagles traded Wentz in the offseason, at least partially, because he couldn’t stay healthy.

He missed games because of knee, back, and head injuries while in Philly. Then, he sat out most of his first training camp in Indianapolis to recover from unexpected foot surgery. Wentz, who has played relatively well in two losses this season, is also not believed to be vaccinated for COVID-19, which would put him at risk of missing time even if he doesn’t test positive.

Brett Hundley or Jacob Eason QB1 this week?

If Wentz cannot go, the Colts sound like they might use a committee approach at quarterback. While Hundley isn’t even on the active roster, the seven-year veteran took the majority of first-team reps in practice Wednesday, according to NFL Network.

The Colts have until 4 PM ET Saturday to promote Hundley from the practice squad to their 53-man roster, a requirement for him to play against Tennessee.

Eason got the plurality of snaps in the preseason, completing 66.1% of his passes with an 83.3 passer rating. Hundley threw a touchdown and an interception in 12 exhibition attempts. The Colts’ other training camp quarterback, Sam Ehlinger, is out with a sprained knee until at least next week.

“Function obviously has to be there because obviously if you can’t fully function, you’re a risk to yourself and to the team,” Wentz said Wednesday. “So, function has to be there, but you can only play through so much pain but again, we’re still a ways out and there’s a lot of speculation. I’m still only, not even quite three days out from the actual injury. There’s a lot of healing to be had in the next couple of days.”

The No. 2 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Wentz has over 17,000 passing yards, 116 touchdowns, and 51 interceptions for an 89.3 passer rating in his career. The Colts are 5-point road underdogs to a Titans team that rallied to beat the Seahawks in overtime in Week 2.