PHILADELPHIA — Editor's note: The above video is from Aug. 8.
When the Philadelphia Eagles head to Ohio this week for joint practices with the Cleveland Browns, they will face off against a Browns defensive end who may be the man most responsible for starting a new era of Eagles football.
Three years ago, in a 2019 wild card playoff matchup between the Eagles and Seattle Seahawks, Jadeveon Clowney jumpstarted massive changes in Philadelphia when he went headfirst into a sprawled out Carson Wentz, driving him into the ground.
The head-to-head contact just two drives into Wentz’s playoff debut resulted in the Eagles former franchise quarterback suffering a concussion that would hold him out for the rest of the game.
The massive domino effect this would have goes on to create a series of unfortunate or fortunate events for the Eagles, depending on who you ask.
After three straight seasons had passed where the Eagles needed their backup quarterback to play in the postseason for an injured Wentz, general manager Howie Roseman felt the need to try and draft his new Nick Foles, selecting Jalen Hurts in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
What Roseman didn’t realize or didn’t prioritize during his pursuit of getting a top-tier backup signal caller was how Wentz would react. All the progress of playing 16 games and going on a playoff run of his own in 2019 was gone with that pick. The pressure of looking over his shoulder was back.
Unlike after the 2017 and 2018 runs, Wentz didn’t respond positively this time.
It resulted in a historic regression for the fifth year gunslinger during the 2020 season where all his bad habits came back to the forefront. Wentz played hero ball every play, his mechanics and accuracy suffered, and his decision making was that of a rookie, rather than of a veteran who was coming off of three straight seasons with over 20 passing touchdowns and less than seven interceptions.
Wentz wasn’t able to carry the load again when a historic amount of injuries to the offensive line resulted in 14 different starting combinations. He wasn’t able to carry another decimated, untalented group of wide receivers.
The Eagles went 4-11-1 and Wentz got benched. He wanted out. He was angry. He felt blamed, and even betrayed.
This resulted in the Eagles trading Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts and the team even went on to fire head coach Doug Pederson, as well.
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Just like that, five years of investing top draft picks and massive contracts into building around one player was out the window.
It all started because of Clowney’s hit.
Let’s be honest, if that hit doesn’t happen, the Eagles aren’t drafting Hurts. Wentz finishes that playoff game, and maybe they even go on to advance to the divisional round. After all, Josh McCown did almost lead a comeback win, and Seattle only won by eight points.
Who knows where the Eagles would be right now if Clowney pulls up.
Perhaps Wentz doesn’t feel as much pressure without Hurts and builds off what he started in 2019. Maybe Pederson gets back into his groove as a play caller with a healthy, more talented offense. Maybe Roseman still figures it out and builds a similar core to the one Hurts and Nick Sirianni have now, around Wentz and Pederson, acquiring the likes of DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown.
On the flip side, maybe it had to be this way.
What if Wentz was always going to regress with or without Hurts on the team? What if all of these things needed to happen for Roseman to change his ways? After all, a lot of the assets he has used to fast forward what was supposed to be a long rebuild came from trading Wentz away.
A lot went into the reset of the Philadelphia Eagles after 2020.
Many decisions going different could have changed the organization’s direction. However, it is hard not to see that Clowney’s decision to hit Wentz three years ago as a key piece in this complex puzzle.