Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Even in growth, Pederson echoes Reid’s influence
PHILADELPHIA » Doug Pederson likes to talk about distancing himself from the methodology of Andy Reid, who he played for, coached under and, after the 2012 season with the Eagles, was fired with.
But Pederson’s gut instincts speak otherwise.
Pederson spent 10 seasons playing quarterback in the NFL. You would think he has his own philosophy about managing the position.
If Carson Wentz or the Eagles go into a slump this year, Pederson plans to draw on his experiences with Reid instead of say, giving the ball to the fully capable Nick Foles.
“I think sometimes you can get a knee-jerk reaction, make moves that, looking back, probably wouldn’t be the right way to do it, to handle it,” Pederson said of the quarterback position. “I spent three years in Kansas City, and we started out 1-5 (in 2015) and I remember Coach Reid and I, we were sitting there going, ‘What should we do? Should we bench Alex (Smith) for Chase (Daniel)? Should we keep going?’
“We kept going with Alex. We won 11 straight. It can be done. But you’ve got to show confidence in that player and show confidence in your team to get it done.”
Pederson is caught between a rock and a hard place. Though he maintains his job as head coach is to win games, he feels he has to stick with Wentz, now in his second season, if struggles arise to show “confidence in him.”
Thrust into the starting job the week before the 2016 regular season opener, Wentz led the Eagles to a 3-0 record in September, throwing five touchdowns and no interceptions with a 103.8 passer rating.
Then President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden jumped on the Wentz Wagon. Experts popped out of the woodwork to take credit for discovering Wentz and his immense talent
Wentz, however, won just one game in each of the next four months, the Eagles finishing 7-9. He threw 14 interceptions and 11 touchdowns in that time and exited with a 79.3 rating.
This year the plan is to rely on Wentz from the outset. The Eagles loaded up at wide receiver with veterans Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, giving them two more threats than they had last year. The front office also added 250-pound running back LeGarrette Blount, who led the league with 18 rushing TDs in 2016.
For Wentz to be his best, he has to do what he does best, and that’s to hand the ball off more than throw it. It worked last season, at least when Ryan Mathews was healthy.
Much as Pederson tried to downplay it, the 2017 Eagles will go as far as Wentz takes them.
“We want to see an incremental growth,” Pederson said. “I mean, obviously a lot of it comes down to how well we as coaches, myself, prepare him for games. With the addition of LeGarrette, the receivers now, putting all those pieces together, I think we can rely more now on some of those guys. The run game can factor in a little bit more.
“You guys know that Carson’s play-action pass ability is extremely high. He’s very successful with that, and those are things that we’ve got to continue to help him with so that he can continue to grow in this league. And I don’t want to keep a box on him. I don’t want to keep a lid on him. He thinks a lot like I do, sort of out-of-the-box thinkers, which is good to have. He’s creative. And so, just understanding the overall structure of the offense, the plays and situational football, he’ll be so much better in those areas that you’ll see incremental increases and incremental growth in his play this year just by observing that.”
Pederson made a big deal of changing his offseason practices to pit the starters against each other in drills. The competition level increased, at least as much as it can in non-contact settings. That’s a departure from last year as well as with the way Reid ran things.
There are other subtle changes, as well. Yet the more Pederson says he’s splitting stylistically from Reid, the more he sounds like his former boss.
“I find myself, as I go every day and really, month to month, finding new ways to do something,” Pederson said. “I’m a big believer that you don’t change just to change. It’s got to benefit the team and it’s got to help you win games. So everything I’ve done and the changes that maybe you’ve seen this offseason are all to help us win games.
“It’s a little bit more my personality, and also, I want to hear from the players, too. You keep your eyes and ears open, you listen to the guys, you listen to what other teams might be doing from around the league. And if it works – it’s like a new offense or defense we see on tape. If it applies to what we’re doing and fits to our system, maybe we’ll give it a shot. If it doesn’t, then we won’t do it. And that’s kind of how I’ve gone about the changes we’ve made.” That’s the new Pederson. Or if you prefer, the old Reid.