Pederson prescribes rest, plenty of work for bye week
The Eagles are soaring, and credit goes beyond QB Wentz
PHILADELPHIA » The bye week upon the Eagles, it is an opportunity for the coaches and players to do a little clean-up.
“Absolutely,” Carson Wentz said Sunday, after a 51-23 victory over the Denver Broncos. “We’re never going to settle.”
So pass Doug Pederson a pressure washer. OK, make it a mop. All right, a whisk broom. Small one.
With the Eagles at 8-1 and on a seven-game winning streak, Pederson promises that he will remain busy in his office this week, videoremote button at his side. As long as he keeps watching film, he figures, he will find out what has Wentz convinced that there are areas in need of cleansing.
As for Monday at his regular press conference at a relatively quiet NovaCare Complex, Pederson was just pleased that Wentz remains unsatisfied.
“I think if you look at the whole thing, if he doesn’t complete every pass, he’s mad,” Pederson said. “That’s just him. You’ve been around him long enough now to know that that’s just him. He continues to work at his accuracy and his decision-making. And there are still little things where maybe a splitsecond decision could have gotten the ball out of his hand or his eyes were a little bit late. Those are things he wants to clean up.”
A long-held pro-football theory was best described colorfully by the late Buddy Ryan, who often said the championship teams play their best once the snow starts to fall. Accurate or exaggerated, it is a worthwhile consideration for the Eagles, who just may not play better after the bye than they did while winning eight of their first nine.
That’s why Pederson figures he’ll see Wentz around soon, with some teammates to follow.
“Just understanding the progression of the play, and understanding where everybody’s going to be on a certain route is important,” he said, searching for flaws, few as they’ve been. “It’s the same way in protection; he’s constantly learning and getting better with protection, him and Jason Kelce and making calls.
“It’s not these major, overhaul changes that he needs to do, because he’s playing at an extremely high level. But he’ll just continue to focus, continue to study and prepare himself the right way like he knows how to do and like he’s been doing. And he’s going to be fine.”
If Wentz is better through the stretch than he was on the clubhouse turn, everything else should follow for the Eagles. He not only believes that is possible, but he all but promised as much after thumping Denver by 28.
“We’re going to enjoy this break that we have,” Wentz said. “But we’re going to come back. We have a good Dallas team to go up against next. There are always things to learn from.”
Pederson’s final message before sending the Birds away for the week was that they should plan to finish what they’ve started. To do that, though, they could benefit from the mental break that comes with a two-week gap between games.
“The best thing is to get away and rest,” he said. “Just take some down time. We still want them to seek some sort of physical activity, whether they lift or condition during the off week. The guys that are around can come into the facility and work out, get treatment, and make sure that they’re ready for next week and the next seven games.
“So get away from it, clear their mind and understand that, yeah, we’ve started something special and we want to make sure that we finish it the right way.”
For that, Pederson will keep his coaching staff around for a few days, then release them for a weekend off. Even then, the runaway leader in any Coach of the Year race will be engaged in his own self-critique.
“We make sure there are no strong tendencies one way or the other, offensively speaking, whether it’s by formation or personnel or whatever that might be,” Pederson said. “Same thing on defense. Just clean some things up. Just evaluate where we are as a football team schematically, and move forward from there.”
*** Out since he injured his ankle early in the Birds’ opener in Washington, cornerback Ronald Darby could return as soon as the next game, Nov. 19 in Dallas.
“Last week, he really got more reps in practice, and even though it was limited, it was almost full,” Pederson said. “He’s another one that will be around, working on his treatment and his rehab, and we’ll see where we’re at next week when they get back. We’ll evaluate it some more.
“But he’s in a really good spot to possibly come back and help us here in the next week or so.” *** Tim Jernigan injured his ankle in the Broncos game.
“Tim’s fine,” Pederson said. “He could have come back and played in that game yesterday, and he’ll be fine. We’ve got this time off now, so he’ll be fine next week.”
*** Caleb Sturgis sustained a hip injury in the opener against the Redskins. Though on the injured reserve list, he is still eligible to return in time for the Dallas game, as per new NFL rules.
When Jake Elliott swished a 61-yard field goal to beat the Giants, he became something of an Eagles fan favorite. But in the last two games, he has missed three PATs. And when asked Monday if Sturgis was still in the mix, Pederson did not exactly nominate Elliott for a lifetime contract.
“Obviously we’re comfortable with what Jake’s doing,” Pederson said. “We’ll just have to cross that bridge when we get there. But nothing has been decided at this point with Caleb.”