WESTFIELD, Ind. — Colts quarterback Carson Wentz returned to practice Monday three weeks to the day from undergoing a procedure on his foot.
Wentz participated heavily in everything except full team 11-on-11 periods as he tested his foot, which had a bone fragment break loose July 29 that required surgery Aug. 2. And from individual drills to one-on-ones to seven-on-sevens, Wentz looked like he picked up right where he left off.
"He looked good today," wide receiver Zach Pascal said, grinning at a reporter. "You see him?"
Wentz had a number of impressive throws and moved well, including one play where he rolled right and fired a strike to wide receiver De'Michael Harris in a seven-on-seven period. Notably, his timing with his receivers looked on point, which hardly is a given for someone who hadn't practiced in three and a half weeks.
But all the time Wentz spent talking through things with his pass-catchers while he was sidelined — be it on the field or in meetings — helped him smoothly side back into practicing as the Colts' QB1 on Monday. It's no coincidence that Wentz looked locked in during practices over the last few weeks and then translated it to his return to practice.
"It's been good to be out here and talk through guys after each play, like hey, this is what I'm seeing on this one, this one I might've checked here, faster eyes on this one," Wentz said. "Just having that dialogue out here, in meetings — being involved is really helpful."
Wentz said a lot of what he went through Monday he did last week to test his foot. And it responded well last week, although coach Frank Reich said Wentz did not push things on consecutive days.
So that'll be the next step for Wentz in his recovery process.
"We gotta get to the point where we can do consecutive days' work," Reich said. "And then we gotta get to the point where we can do everything. We're still not there but today was a good next step."
Still, that the Colts and Wentz even arrived at this next step on Monday is an encouraging development. Reich said he initially figured the best-case outlook for Wentz would be doing what he did Monday one week from now, which would've been the four-week mark out from his procedure.
But with Wentz's procedure being the "best-case scenario" and his recovery being "really quick," the quarterback was able to push things on Monday.
"It was fun to get out there today and, honestly, to not think about it a lot and go play ball," Wentz said.
The Colts will monitor how Wentz responds to Monday morning's practice throughout the day and then into Tuesday before determining if he needs a rest day or indeed can start to push things on consecutive days. Wentz, of course, wants to be out there, but emphasized he's following what trainers, doctors and surgeons tell him.
Still, Wentz said he feels confident with where his foot is and is optimistic about where things are headed.
"It's going to be up to the doctors," Wentz said. "At the end of the day, as long as there's nothing I can do to injure myself or make it worse, I know I've played through a lot worse. But it's going to come down to what the doctors say."
