Chris Ballard, Frank Reich Address Carson Wentz,…

Both Ballard and Reich believe Wentz will show progress from everything that’s happened after the calendar flipped to 2022, from the crushing end of the season (“I feel a resolve from him,” Reich said) to all the rumors and critiques out there (“It’ll be interesting to see how he grows from this. I think he will,” Ballard said).

And Reich, too, reiterated his belief in Wentz on Tuesday.

“I believe in Carson,” Reich said. “I stuck my neck out for him. Last year, I was a big part of that decision to get him here and so I believe he’s going to continue to have a lot of success at quarterback. That might be here, that might not be here. That decision has yet to be determined. But I still believe in the person, I still believe in the player.”

If the Colts do decide to move on from Wentz, though, Ballard said he won’t let that decision be influenced by the pool of potentially-available quarterbacks in free agency, the trade market or NFL Draft. The same can be said for the draft pick compensation the team sent to the Eagles last year (a 2022 first-round pick and a 2021 third-round pick).

“You look at the decision when we made the decision at the time,” Ballard said. “You always do what you think is best with the information you have. I don’t ever worry about what we gave up or what we did. We make the best decision going forward and whatever the repercussions of that are, they are. We deal with them and figure out how we can move forward.”

And, as Ballard stressed: “We will not make a panic move to make a panic move.”

The Colts – Irsay, Ballard, Reich – will eventually come to a decision here. It’s a complex, challenging issue to evaluate, and is one that extends beyond just the quarterback.

But this is all a long way of saying the Colts have not reached their decision yet. When they do, they’ll be confident it’s the right one not just for 2022, but for the team’s future this decade.

“Ultimately, we’ll do what’s best for the team, for the Colts,” Ballard said. “Both in the short-term and in the long-term.”