Pederson hopes to ‘bring it all together’

PHILADELPHIA » The Eagles put Doug Pederson on a pitch count.

The total number of questions at his writers-only get-together capped, Pederson set a playful, conversational tone with a couple of quickies before anyone asked.

“Favorite color, blue,” Pederson said. “Favorite food, pizza.”

Somewhere between ‘blue’ and ‘pizza,’ the kidding ended and reality set in. You could feel the pressure Pederson is under in Year 2 of his gig as an NFL head coach as he tiptoed delicately through one minefield after another. The most popular inquiry was, do you feel the organization has added enough talent to win now?

The answer began with “mmmmmm” and ended with “probably.”

“I think we’re capable,” Pederson said. “It’s, there are a lot of things. I look back on my time in Green Bay as a player when we were making those playoff runs, those Super Bowl runs there. Do we have as much talent on this team than we did then? We probably have more talent, right? But we also had a lot of talent in 2010, here, and where did that get us?

So there has to be a combination of blending all of this talent with a coaching staff, with my ideas and philosophy, to bring all that together, with the egos aside, put pride aside. And just go focus on winning this game that we have in front of us.

“I’m a big believer that if you do that, then you look back at the end of the season, and you’re probably going to be where you want to be, and that’s playing in the postseason.”

With wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, and running back LeGarrette Blount joining Darren Sproles on offense, quarterback Carson Wentz and the Eagles have three more weapons than they did on their way to a 7-9 record last season.

Only Bill Belichick would enjoy figuring out how to blend all of those new pieces together and still be in the hunt for a playoff berth amid a miserable schedule in which

four of the first six games are on the road, where Pederson led the Eagles to a 1-7 mark last year.

If the Eagles start 2-4, they’d have to win eight of their remaining 10 games to reach the postseason – primarily against NFC East opponents who have upgraded, as well.

Pederson still is digging out of the fourth-down gambles that the Eagles failed to convert … and the others he declined to convert. And although it’s his second year, and he insists he doesn’t feel the front office is micromanaging him, he sounds conflicted. To beat yourself up for fear of it turning into a big story … or not to beat yourself up. That’s the question.

“Even looking at last year, 7-9, with the opportunities that we had, we could have been a little better if we take care of a few things,” Pederson said. “I could have been better, helped our team win some of those close games. Look at the Dallas overtime game. The Giants’ game.

“So just look at the three division teams that we had chances of winning those games. If we take care of those games …

And learning how to finish those games, learning with a young team, you’ve got to get over that hump, too. We played a lot of young guys last year and a lot of those guys are going into Year 2. They’re going to learn from that as well.”

The Eagles haven’t been to the playoffs since 2013, Chip Kelly’s rookie year. They haven’t won a playoff game since 2008, when Pederson was head coach at Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, La.

Do you, Doug Pederson, considering the additions and the expectations, then feel you have to lead the Eagles to 10 wins this year, assuming Wentz stays healthy?

“It still goes back to, there are a lot of those factors,” Pederson said. “So, it’s hard to put a number on it. I’m not going to put myself in a box that way, obviously. It’s still a game-by-game mentality. We focus on our division. We focus on the NFC East, we start there. We have to win those games, focus on those. We focus on the NFC, there are layers.

“If you win the Super Bowl, that’s a successful year. Thirty-one teams failed to win the Super Bowl last year. I think success

can be measured in a few different ways. If we go 8-8 is that a successful year? I don’t coach to be average, I’ll tell you that. These players don’t practice the way they do to be average. We’re all in this together. We’ll just continue to work every single day until we get to that goal.”

Eagles players expect another tough training camp from Pederson, who has scheduled three days of practices with tackling to the ground. The difference this year is the veterans who know how much contact is enough will work largely against each other in those sessions. The younger players will pull out all the stops against each other.

Away from the microphones, Pederson is more easy going about his expectations for the season. Deep down inside, he sees considerable growth.

“I think we’re there,” Pederson said. “It’s a matter of bringing it all together. That’s the thing.”

To contact Bob Grotz, email brgotz@21stcenturymedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobGrotz.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS — MICHAEL PEREZ With a team that’s a year older and bolstered by veteran offseason additions, Eagles coach Doug Pederson is on the clock in his second year in charge.