Eagles QB Wentz: 'I'm not perfect'

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz admitted his shortcomings could have inspired anonymous criticism from teammates, who described the 26-year-old as selfish and egotistical. Wentz said parts of the recent story that criticized him were wrong, and others prompted reflection.

A report critical of Wentz was published last month by PhillyVoice.com and cited "more than a half dozen" players who requested to remain anonymous, "fearing repercussions." The unnamed teammates reportedly called the Eagles quarterback "selfish" and "egotistical." "It's never fun to read, but to an extent, you look at it and be like, 'Well, if someone did have this perception of me, why? What have I done wrong? What can I get better at?'" he told a group of reporters recently, according to an account published Monday by ESPN. "I realize I have my shortcomings. Yes, I can be selfish. I think we all have selfishness inside of us. There's human elements to that, that I really look at and say, 'Well, I can get better.'"

Among the claims in the report were that Wentz "bullied" offensive coordinator Mike Groh, played "favorites" by over-targeting Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz, and generally acted "like he's won 10 Super Bowls." Wentz said he wished teammates had aired their grievances directly with him.

"I know who I am, first of all. I know how I carry myself. I know I'm not perfect. I know I have flaws," he said. "So I'm not going to sit here and say it was inaccurate and completely made up. I'm not going to do that. But at the end of the day, I will say our locker room is really close. If there were guys that had issues, in hindsight, I wish we could have just talked about them. But, again, I don't know how that all happened and everything with that." Wentz said the report was a shock to him.

"It kind of came out of nowhere," he said. Wentz received immediate support on social media from All-Pro defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, Pro Bowl offensive linemen Lane Johnson and Brandon Brooks, and Ertz after the story was published.

"None of that is true," Cox wrote on Twitter. "We are all behind him 100 percent." "Don't believe everything you read!!!" Ertz tweeted. "Carson has been nothing but a GREAT person, GREAT teammate and GREAT leader since Day 1."

Johnson tweeted that "whoever wrote that article needs to check their 'sources.'" Wentz vehemently denied the accusations that he mistreated Groh.

"Groh and I talked to each other that day when it came out, and I think we all know that never took place," Wentz said. The quarterback said that when the report was published, he wanted to find out the source but decided that wasn't important.

"I'll learn from it and we'll all learn that A, things shouldn't kind of come out the way it did, and B, the pieces that I can learn from it and be a better teammate and player and all that stuff I will grow from," he said. "But other than that, just turn the page." The No. 2 overall draft pick in 2016, Wentz is 23-17 in three seasons as the starter in Philadelphia. His last two regular seasons have ended with injuries, but head coach Doug Pederson confirmed last month that Wentz is "our guy" heading into 2019.

--Field Level Media

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)