Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Pederson just wants Foles to be himself
Pederson just wants Foles to be himself
PHILADELPHIA » At the most, Doug Pederson knew he’d have to squeeze three playoff games out of Nick Foles. For that, he would have a simple plan, one that worked once, one that could work again.
“The message is still the same: Go be Nick,” Pederson said Friday at the Nova Care Complex. “You feed off last week, obviously. But it’s a different set of challenges, a different team, a different defense and all that.
“You don’t have to force anything. Just let the offense work for you. And he’ll be fine.”
Go be Nick. As tee-shirt themes, rallying cries or useful suggestions go, it likely would top anything dog-bone-related. As a game plan, it was sufficient last weekend, in a 15-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. And it’s the only one Pederson figures can work Sunday night at 6:40, when the Minnesota Vikings show up at the Linc to play for a spot in the Super Bowl.
So who would Foles be to argue?
“The big thing is, we have to go out there and play aggressive,” Foles said, after practice. “We’ve got to put some points on the board. At the same time, it’s a team game. But we want to go
out and put some points on the board and do the little things right.
“It’s one play at a time. All the things you have worked on forever, it all goes back to that. Playing together. Getting the rhythm. There are all the little things we have to go do.”
With Carson Wentz gone for the season with a knee injury, Pederson was forced to turn to Foles. The only question was how far. A week ago, he made news by promising to allow Foles to “rip it.” And on the Birds’ first play from scrimmage against Atlanta, that’s what Foles did, attempting to throw deep to Torrey Smith and drawing a pass-interference penalty. From there, though, the Birds were largely reliant on shorter passes or runs, and Foles did not find a wide receiver for a connection lengthier than 21 yards.
With the stakes raised Sunday, the tension should raise, too. Pederson, though, has endeavored to keep Foles confident with his repeated public pronouncements that he will not turn timid just because he is playing with a backup quarterback.
“I feel great, honestly,” Foles said. “Just living in the moment, doing everything you can to prepare, then going out there Sunday and giving everything you have is all you can do. Sometimes when you press, it becomes more difficult.
“So you stick to your schedule. You stick to your preparation. And I trust the guys next to me.” He trusts them. They trust him. Even if they have no choice, it is the only way it can work.
“He’s an Eagle,” Nelson Agholor said. “He is tough and resilient. Nick Foles is an Eagle. He does what he needs to do and he doesn’t back down.”
Foles signed with the Eagles because they offered to pay him $11 million over two seasons. But he also returned to Philadelphia because he genuinely likes the place, the stadium, the fans and the organization.
It might not have been how it was designed. But there he will be Sunday, playing quarterback with the Eagles one victory from a Super Bowl.
“That’s why we play the game, to ultimately win a championship, to get to the Super Bowl,” Foles said. “Right now, we are just focused on the moment. But this fan base is amazing. And to be a player who is fortunate enough to come back and play for the team he was drafted by and has such strong ties to the city, that doesn’t happen often. Just to be here in this moment, to go play with these guys, to play the game for these fans, it is a great honor.
“And we are going to give it everything we have Sunday when we have the opportunity.” So Nick will be Nick. At this point, there is no reason for Pederson to demand anything else.