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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz has a torn ACL in his left knee and will miss the remainder of the season and playoffs, coach Doug Pederson announced Monday. The 24-year-old Wentz, who was expected to be an NFL MVP candidate this season, underwent an MRI on Monday morning after suffering the knee injury in Sunday's 43-35 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
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It usually takes a player six to nine months to recover from the required surgery.
"If there's ever an opportunity for me to rally the troops as the football coach, now might be the time," Pederson told reporters Monday. "You can't lose faith. This has been a resilient football team all season long."
Wentz was injured as he took a big hit on a third-quarter touchdown run that was called back because of a penalty. He came up limping after absorbing multiple hits on the run but stayed in the game and threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffery four plays later to give the Eagles the lead.
Pederson said he believed the injury occurred right before the hit on Wentz.
"It appears watching the film again today it was actually before the contact so it could be a non-contact deal," Pederson said. "But that's just what it appears like on tape."
Wentz was 23-of-41 passing for 291 yards and four touchdowns with one interception before leaving the game.
Nick Foles replaced Wentz on the next drive for the Eagles (11-2), who clinched the NFC East title with Sunday's victory at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for their first division title since 2013.
Foles, who was 6 of 10 for 42 yards after coming into the game and leading the Eagles to a pair of field goals on consecutive drives against the Rams, will now be the starting quarterback.
The Eagles previously lost other star players for the season: Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters, return specialist/running back Darren Sproles, linebacker Jordan Hicks and special teams captain Chris Maragos.
"We overcame a Pro Bowl left tackle (Peters). We overcame a middle linebacker (Hicks)," Pederson said. "We've overcome a core special teams player, our kicker (Caleb Sturgis) this year. This is no different. Yeah, he is the quarterback of our football team and each one of these guys is tough to replace, but the reason we went out and got Nick Foles is for reasons like this, for situations like this.
"I'm excited for Nick obviously. I hate it for Carson Wentz. I hate it for the career and the season he's been having but at the same time it's been the next man up mentality and that's how we approach it this week."
With his four touchdowns passes Sunday, Wentz now has 33 to move past Sonny Jurgensen for the most TDs in a single season in franchise history, a record that stood since 1961. Wentz completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 3,296 yards with just seven interceptions in 13 games this season.
The Eagles next face the New York Giants this Sunday before a Christmas Day game against the Oakland Raiders and a season finale against the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 31.
Foles is 20-17 as a starter in six seasons with the Eagles, then-St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs.
"I'm absolutely ready," Foles said after Sunday's game. "That's what I'm here for."
