Eagles QB Carson Wentz has a fractured vertebra, was not found until this week

It’s not just a standard sore back Carson Wentz is dealing with.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Wentz has a fracture in his back. ESPN’s Adam Schefter added it’s a fractured vertebra. What adds to that story is that the team had done CT scans throughout the season — Wentz has been dealing with a back issue for some time — and the fracture wasn’t discovered until this week, according to Rapoport.

Both reports said surgery isn’t needed and the team is determining if there’s further risk in him playing over the rest of the season. The injury should heal without any more issues, Schefter reported. On Wednesday it was reported Wentz is likely to miss Sunday night’s game against the Rams and could miss the rest of the season depending on what happens in that game. Given that Wentz has a fracture in his back and the 6-7 Eagles are fading out of the playoff race, it seems best for the Eagles to shut him down.

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The main question that lingers, however, is how the Eagles couldn’t diagnose a fracture in the back of their franchise quarterback.

Carson Wentz reportedly got a second opinion

On Thursday, there were numerous reports about Wentz’s medical situation. ESPN’s Adam Schefter said a scan of Wentz’s back couldn’t find the issue and he was having an MRI on Thursday. Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer confirmed Schefter’s report and said the tests have been second opinions outside of the team’s medical staff. Schefter said Wentz has been dealing with the back issue for weeks.

In Weeks 7 and 8 Wentz was limited a day in practice due to a back injury. This is Week 15. While it’s possible the issue in Weeks 7 and 8 is unrelated to the fractured vertebra, it’s troubling if it took this long to figure out.

McLane sent out a tweet that seemed to connect Wentz’s injury and the second opinion he got to other questions related to the Eagles medical staff.

In that story linked in the tweet, McLane wrote about the big changes on the medical staff over the offseason, after a Super Bowl title, and some of the injury issues this season such as Darren Sproles missing more than two months with a hamstring injury and an initial misdiagnosis of a torn ACL for Jay Ajayi in October.

Wentz’s season makes more sense now

Given the news of Wentz’s back fracture, it puts his season in perspective.

Wentz’s numbers were good but not great this year. Many people attributed that to him coming back from a torn ACL suffered last December. That might have factored into his somewhat down season, but it seems the back issue has been a much bigger problem than anyone knew until this week.

The Eagles’ season probably isn’t going anywhere. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense to put Wentz back on the field. It seems prudent to start thinking about getting Wentz to the offseason with no further damage and regroup for the 2019 season. And before then, maybe the Eagles can answer some of the questions that will come up about the medical staff.

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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