Jim Irsay is giving the masses a glimpse into the thinking you almost never hear sports owners publicly communicate about their former players.
The Colts owner continues to savagely rip Carson Wentz, who was traded to the Washington Commanders earlier this offseason.
“I think the worst thing you can do is have a mistake and try to keep living with it going forward,” Irsay said, according to the Indianapolis Star. “For us, it was something we had to move away from as a franchise. It was very obvious.”
Irsay was particularly irked that Wentz did not rise to the occasion in the Colts’ Week 18 matchup against the Jaguars, which they lost as double-digit favorites, causing them to miss the postseason as a result.
“No disrespect to Jacksonville, but I mean, they’re the worst team in the league. You play well and hard for the first quarter or so, and they’re looking to go to their locker room and clean it out. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,” Irsay said. “You say, ‘My God, there’s something wrong here.’ It needs to be corrected. I think that we feel like we did.
“Your guy’s gotta pick you up and carry you through Jacksonville. He has to do it. Not an option. Has to. No excuses, no explanations.”
Irsay couldn’t put his finger on why, but clearly felt that Wentz’s leadership did not engender team chemistry.
“You search for the right chemistry with any team,” Irsay said. “In football, it’s as important as any sport that there is. If that chemistry is off, if it isn’t there, it can be extremely detrimental and lower performance to a degree that is stunning and shocking.”
“For us, the fit just wasn’t right,” he continued. “I don’t know why. A lot of times you don’t know why, but you know it isn’t, and it was important for us to move in a different direction.”
Irsay called GM Chris Ballard’s return haul for Wentz a “pretty big blessing from the football gods”, because unloading Wentz gave the the franchise the opportunity to acquire Matt Ryan from the Falcons.
