Many questions as season draws to a close
With nothing to play for but fear of embarrassment, this is going to be the week of soul searching for the Eagles.
Particularly head coach Doug Pederson, who has said he expects to return in 2021, yet remembers what happened the last time he said he expected his right-hand man and offensive coordinator to be back. Just days later, Mike Groh was fired, a wakeup call for Pederson.
The biggest indictment of Pederson in the Eagles’ worst season in eight years is how undisciplined his team has played. From pre-snap penalties as in six false-starts last week, to blown defensive assignments contributing to surrendering 500-or more yards in consecutive weeks and a game plan that strays from team strengths, including the run game, the Eagles’ play reflects the coaching.
You can criticize Howie Roseman and the front office for drafting wide receiver Jalen Reagor instead of Justin Jefferson in the first round of the 2020 draft, as Jefferson made the Pro Bowl. But it’s almost impossible to tell how much upside Reagor actually has because of the coaching, and not simply because the Eagles are on their sixth different wide receiver coach in six years.
Looking at Reagor’s meager numbers, watching his basic route running you have to wonder if he would have more easily transitioned into a leading role on another team, as Jefferson did in with the Minnesota Vikings.
And it’s not just Reagor. You could rewind to the 2019 draft when the Eagles thought wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside was the smarter pick than DK Metcalf who also made the Pro Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks.
At his Wednesday presser, Pederson was unable to identify whether the underperforming Reagor and JJAW were the result of scheme, player development or poor choices.
“You’re trying to point the finger in different directions,” Pederson said. “Obviously, Jalen is a talented guy and a lot of it will fall on us as coaches to prepare our players and get them ready. Then the other half of it falls on the player to get himself prepared and how well he comes in and understands and picks up the offense in this case. What was it, Week 2 against the Rams, is when he got hurt and now, he misses six weeks and now he’s done for six weeks?
“That growth process, you’re starting to see glimpses of it now, towards the end of the season with him that we were hoping for in weeks three and four in the regular season but he had the injury and it set him back. So, yeah, I think you look around the league and you do see some young players who are on some teams with some veteran players. They don’t have the injuries that we have, they don’t have the offensive line injuries that we have or different things that are going on.”
Pederson should have mentioned the quarterback change as well. Though the Eagles are 1-2 since Jalen Hurts took the starting job from Carson Wentz, the Eagles have shown slightly more upside in that time.
Make no mistake, the front office will take a hard look at player development in its evaluation of Pederson, who has two years left on his contract. Right now, it sure sounds like Pederson is lobbying to keep his job. A few days ago, he spoke about having a say in personnel and draft decisions. Asked to clarify what he really meant, he waffled.
“Don’t misunderstand what I was saying,” Pederson said. “Our process here is we lean on the scouting department. We lean on Howie and his department and our scouts in the evaluation process. My staff also evaluates these players as well and I evaluate the players as well. All I’m saying is it’s a collaborative effort. It’s something that we talk and discuss. Listen, by no means do I want to cross that line. My side is the football side, I want to coach football. That’s what I love to do but at the same time I want to make sure my staff is doing the right things. We’re evaluating the players that can help us. That’s all I’m saying there. I don’t want to cross that line at all.”
Doesn’t exactly sound like a guy making his last stand, does it?
Whatever happens, there will be changes for the Eagles after they complete the regular season Sunday night with a game against the Washington Football Team at Lincoln Financial Field. The last time the Eagles were swept by WFT was in 2016, Pederson’s first season as head coach.
If the WFT clinches the NFC East pennant on Philly soil, it will add insult to injury in this disaster of a season.
Right now, the front office doesn’t seem to be quizzing players about their likes and dislike with the coaching staff.
“I think if you get asked about it from anybody upstairs, or ‘what do you think? Did you like him? Did you dislike him?’” veteran Brandon Graham said. “If that happens, yeah, you fight for your coach. But I understand that doesn’t happen all the time. It’s just, they make a decision, we live with it and we just move on to the next. That’s just how it goes sometimes because we’re not in charge of that part. But I know that hearing the media sometimes can make it seem like it’s the end of the world and they’re about to get cut tomorrow and sometimes that’s not the case. But you know, if you don’t listen to it, you just wait and see what happens, sometimes things might happen that you don’t expect to happen.”