Indianapolis Colts put unvaccinated starting QB Carson Wentz on reserve/COVID-19 list

INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts have placed starting quarterback Carson Wentz on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the team announced Tuesday.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association on Tuesday adopted the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that would reduce the quarantine time to five days from 10 days for all players, including those who are unvaccinated, if they are asymptomatic or at least demonstrating that their symptoms are improving, according to a memo obtained by ESPN.

Wentz tested positive, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Wentz would still be able to play on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders as long as the positive test took place Monday and he is asymptomatic or demonstrates his symptoms are improving under the new protocols.

Wentz has not shed light on why he remains unvaccinated. He missed some time before the start of the regular season because he was a close contact to someone who tested positive in the Colts’ organization.

“I’m not going to go into depth on why, but I will say it’s a personal decision for me and my family,” Wentz said in early September. “I respect everybody else’s decision, and I just ask that everybody does the same for me. I know that’s not the world we live in, not everyone is going to equally view things the same, but yeah, no one really knows what’s going on in someone else’s household and how things are being handled. It’s a personal decision. That’s just where I’m at on it and with the protocols and everything the way they are, really for us, it’s about understanding them clearly and making sure that we are dotting our I’s and crossing our T’s.”

If Wentz can’t play, rookie Sam Ehlinger, barring the Colts bringing in a quarterback from the outside or going with practice squad quarterback Brett Hundley, will start against the Raiders. Ehlinger missed the start of the regular season because of a knee injury suffered in a preseason game at Detroit. His most extensive playing time has been in the final…