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Commanders QB Carson Wentz broke a finger in TNF, availability unknown

Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz is back in the news this week.

Appearing to be in pain during a Thursday Night Football win against the Chicago Bears, the quarterback completed 12 of his 22 pass attempts for 99 passing yards and notably trucked Bears linebacker Roquan Smith. Now multiple Saturday reports confirm that Wentz sustained a fractured ring finger on his throwing hand specifically.

He is reportedly already on his way to see a hand specialist in Los Angeles to establish next steps and determine his availability going forward. One report estimates that Wentz could be out for as many as six weeks. However, this likely will not be confirmed until Monday.

As Wentz recovers, the Commanders could call on former Minnesota Viking Taylor Heinicke to fill in as starting quarterback for their Oct. 23 matchup with the Green Bay Packers.

Heinicke started 15 games for Washington last season, finishing 7-8 and completing 66% of his passes for 3,419 yards with 15 interceptions for 20 touchdowns. Rookie fifth-round pick Sam Howell is the third string option.

Wentz has a lot going on in Washington

This is another of many headlines for Wentz this week. Commanders head coach Ron Rivera spoke to the media on Monday following the team's 21-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans and provided "quarterback" as his one-word answer when he was asked why the other three NFC East teams are seemingly ahead of Washington in their respective rebuilding processes. Rivera reportedly went on to apologize to Wentz and the entire team on Tuesday.

After Thursday's win, Rivera was frustrated about negative Commanders media coverage and denied the ESPN report that Commanders owner Daniel Snyder, not Rivera, had pushed to acquire Wentz last offseason.

These are Rivera’s comments before storming out of the conference room:

"Everybody keeps wanting to say I didn't want anything to do with Carson. Well, bulls***. I'm the f***ing guy that pulled out the sheets of paper, looked at the analytics, watched the tape when we were in Indianapolis. And that's what pisses me off. Because the young man doesn't deserve to have that all the time. I'm sorry, I'm done."

Wentz is currently 7-0 in Thursday night football across his entire career. An impressive niche record, as he currently has a 64.1 completion percentage with 1,489 passing yards with 10 touchdowns in six interceptions.