Grotz: Doug Pederson’s grit rubbing off on his players
PHILADELPHIA » There’s still a lot of season left before we can thoroughly evaluate Doug Pederson as a head coach.
But even at this early point there is no denying how selfless his players are.
On every other snap, the Eagles’ player you’d least expect to make a play does exactly that.
On Thursday it was cornerback Patrick Robinson falling on a teammate’s fumble to avert disaster, and later intercepting a screen pass to set up a game-changing touchdown in the Eagles’ 28-23 win over the Panthers.
It was rookie first-round pick Derek Barnett working himself into a frenzy to register his first sack after taking a controversial penalty for a late hit on Cam Newton.
It was the obscure Mack Hollins and Marcus Johnson making big first down catches, Rasul Douglas and Jalen Mills providing interceptions and offensive tackle Hal Vatai realizing it’s more rewarding to keep Carson Wentz on his feet by blocking rather than helping him off the ground.
Add them up and you get a 5-1 start.
Those plays don’t just happen. They largely result from grinding, doing the dirty work and sacrificing until it’s your time.
And that’s the story of Doug Pederson’s life.
While it’s not a bad time to start thinking about Wentz as an MVP candidate, you cannot overlook the coach. Or the coach’s humble beginning.
Pederson was a career backup quarterback when he signed with the Eagles in 1999, ostnesibly to help Andy Reid teach the offense to a collection of holdovers from the Ray Rhodes era, free agents straight off the rack and first-round draft pick Donovan McNabb.
Panthers head coach Ron Rivera was a defensive assistant on that Eagles’ staff with Reid. There were times he wondered how Pederson managed to keep keeping on, if you will.
“He’s just a tremendous team player,” Rivera said. “I mean, it was tough. Those first couple of games that he had to start, those were tough because we were just learning everything and teams were getting after us. But he stood tall and I never heard him complain about anything. I mean, the dude was a true pro.”
Eagles practices were behind Veterans Stadium back in Pederson’s quarterback days here, and they were open all afternoon to media who appreciated watching bad football.
One hot day Pederson and a cast of receivers who knew the West Coast but not the offense couldn’t connect at all. It was brutal. They didn’t complete a pass for at least five minutes.
Reid assembled the players, screamed an obscenity and sent them back out for more practice only with dink-and-dunk passes instead of the intermediate routes. Who knew Big Red would be so successful he’d get to all of those NFC title games and lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl?
It’s early but Pederson also seems to have convinced his players how important the little things are.
Pederson got veteran guards Steve Wisniewski and Chance Warmack to seamlessly share the left guard spot, although Wiz manned it exclusively Thursday.
Pederson got LeGarrette Blount and Alshon Jeffery to accept less expansive roles that veterans wouldn’t normally feel comfortable about, considering the competition around them.
The results speak for themselves. The Eagles are tied for the best record in football. They’ve beaten teams in all phases, two phases and one phase. The offensive line has been outstanding, save Vaitai’s emergency start against the Panthers. The receiving corps has been borderline lethal, including tight end Zach Ertz.
The sacrifices haven’t been lost on Wentz, who has no problem sending the ball to the right place regardless of years of service. Pederson laid the groundwork for his passer.
“With LeGarrette, Alshon and Torrey (Smith) and now Kenjon (Barner), they don’t feel like they need the ball every time,” Pederson said. “This is such a great team sport. If everybody does their job the success rate goes up. The same way on defense. You’re seeing Tim Jernigan, you’re seeing Patrick Robinson play extremely well the last couple of games. You’re seeing these guys step up and just build off of what was here.”
With seven TD passes over the last two games, Wentz has 13 on the season against three interceptions. He’s on pace to throw 35 scoring passes and for more than 4,000 yards.
Only Tom Brady has more passing yardage right now.
Pederson has given the guys a couple of days off to reflect on what they’ve done. He will reflect, too. He’s earned it.
“It’s been a pleasant surprise,” Pederson said, “to have all of those pieces working and jelling all at the same time.”
Surprise, not really. Labor of love, definitely.