Pederson blunt about holes left in locker room
PHILADELPHIA » The more Eagles head coach Doug Pederson speaks, the more he sounds like one of his players.
When was the last time you heard a coach other than Bill Belichick take a shot at the league? Pederson did that, mildly at least, in assessing the impact of trading away popular veterans Jordan Matthews and Jon Dorenbos. “There are things I don’t like about the NFL,” Pederson said. “What I don’t like about it is the business side of it … These guys, these two were big, big guys in the locker room, around the players. Guys really respected them and liked them.”
Pederson also said it was his job to make sure the personnel changes didn’t impact the delicate fabric of the Eagles’ locker room. It’s the best he can do with the power he has.
With each roster move it’s clearer that Pederson is just the coach, which is what he signed up for. It’s difficult asking him substantive personnel questions. It’s even tougher listening to him try to answer them.
Pederson was asked how much the draft status and the resources invested to secure players impacted decisions in shaping the 53-man roster. The response was refreshing — and telling.
“That’s an interesting question because even as a player, back a hundred years ago, you kind of go, ‘Well, are they go- ing to take the drafted guy over a non-drafted guy?,’” Pederson said. “At the end of the day you pick the best 53. Obviously, I think you do consider where a guy was picked and if there are resources invested, if there’s guarantees, all of that stuff, which I leave that to Howie (Roseman) and those guys. I’m sure that plays a little bit into the decisions. But from my standpoint, we pick the best 53 football players for this roster.”
Pederson isn’t the only coach in the league who doesn’t control the 53-man roster. This past spring he affirmed his comfort level with the role he has in the Eagles’ operation. Pederson and his staff tell Roseman and Joe Douglas what players they’re looking for, and leave it at that.
Now, we’re pretty sure Pederson didn’t say he needed a cornerback with a torn Achilles’ tendon like Sidney Jones in the second round. Or that he banged his hand on the table before the trade up to choose a slower, smaller version of Darren Sproles (Donnel Pumphrey) in the fourth round.
Maybe when Pederson’s authorized autobiography comes out he’ll say he preferred drafting tight end O.J. Howard over pass rusher Derek Barnett in the first round of the most recent draft. Maybe not.
But Pederson was all in on mortgaging a chunk of resources to secure Carson Wentz two drafts ago. And what Pederson does best, lest we forget, is manage the quarterback position. ESPN analyst, Super Bowl winning head coach and long ago Eagles offensive coordinator Jon Gruden made the point again Wednesday.
“Doug Pederson has that job for one huge reason,” Gruden said on a conference call. “He understands the quarterback position and how to put him in a position of success,”
Gruden believes Wentz the right quarterback for erson to shape.
And no outsider knows the Philly landscape like Gruden, who managed Ricky Watters to back-to-back-toback 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
Despite the pressure, Wentz is in a win-win situation because Pederson heads up the development team.
“It’s tough in Philadelphia, certainly,” Gruden said. “But I think you’ve got to look at is Ped- it realistically. There’s also a lot to be excited about in Philadelphia. You could be the first guy to do it. You could be the first man to bring a Lombardi home to Philadelphia. That’s something to be excited about. (Wentz has) got a huge support system there. I think the fans love him. The organization loves him. They’ve added some receivers to help him. I think the defense is pretty good. They’ve added a big back to help him in some goal line and short yardage situations. They’ve helped him close out games late. “I think this is going to be fun year for Philadelphia.” Fun for Wentz, fun for the front office and hell for Pederson if he cannot get all of the new pieces pointed in the right direction incredibly fast.
It’s not just the schedule in which the Eagles play four of their first six games on the a road, where they struggled mightily last year.
It’s getting the almost brand new receiving corps on the same page without an anchor like Matthews, who not only was productive and reliable but a trusted friend of Wentz.
It’s getting a new cast of characters to live up to elite special teams standards Dorenbos, the long snapper or outstanding core players Bryan Braman and Kenjon Barner. The unevenness of special teams has been the underreported story of the preseason.
And getting a group of cornerbacks thrown together on the f ly to believe they can cover Odell Beckham, Dez Bryant, Cole Beasley and Jordan Reed.