“Were you on board with the Jalen Hurts draft pick when it happened?” Eagles coach Doug Pederson was asked yesterday by Jeff McLane of the Inky.
By Tom Brennan
I know, I know.
It’s easy to dump on Doug Pederson, who, even though he coached the Birds to their only Super Bowl title in February 2018, is now coaching with his thumb up his ass.
His team is 3-7-1, and they look for all the world to see like they are uncoached.
Literally.
But Pederson’s attitude during these mandatory pressers is making things worse.
It’s almost like, “I’m the F-ing coach and how dare you ask me anything?”
What was Pederson’s reaction to McLane’s perfectly reasonable question?
“Yes, I was,” Pederson said. “Why?”
“Because I’m wondering because it hasn’t exactly played out the way you guys — at least the way that . . . Roseman originally said that he would be utilized on offense. It seems to have undermined you to some extent, and Carson Wentz,” McLane explained.
“I don’t understand where you’re coming from,” Pederson said. “Every year we look at quarterbacks. Every year we — if we have an opportunity to take a quarterback, we’re going to take a quarterback; at least look at the position. Every position is looked at and studied, and wherever we can help and add talent and depth, we’re going to do that. The quarterback position is not exempt from that. This is a sport where there is only one quarterback that plays, and Carson is that player right now, and we go to work. We continue to coach Jalen and get him prepared if he has to go in and play.”
Hurts played sparingly on Monday night (two snaps), creating the impression that Hurts played not because Pederson wanted Hurts to play but because someone else wanted Hurts to play.
“Well, as you guys watched the game, and of course as we were living it out in real-time, one of the things — for us I guess to use any of our personnel, and in this case, we’re talking about Jalen and Carson, for me it’s about getting in a rhythm, getting into the flow of the game, getting in a consistent flow where we’re positive on first down,” Pederson said.
Getting into a rhythm becomes harder to do when, for example, Hurts is jammed onto the field for a snap or two before being pulled for Wentz. It was awkward and ineffective and created the impression that Pederson wasn’t fully on board with giving Hurts reps.
“It’s kind of how our whole first quarter and a half went for us, just no rhythm,” Pederson said. “So, for me, would I like to get into a flow and use Jalen in a couple of situations? I think that’s feasible. It’s possible. It’s been productive for us.”
Pederson referred to the arrangement at one point as a “rotation,” but it’s not really a rotation. It’s Wentz as the starter and Hurts getting a cameo rep or two.
“If it were Jalen in there, maybe he goes a couple plays in a row; obviously if Carson is in there, he takes the bulk of the action,” Pederson said. “They’re both professionals and they understand and expect nothing less.”
