Pederson is treated to a welcome cooling off
The final seconds of the first game of a 16-game supermarathon were clicking away, and for the second time in a week, Doug Pederson was about to be hit with an icy, chilling jolt. For every reason, this one would be more refreshing.
The Eagles were just about to defeat the Washington Redskins, 3017, in an NFC East game likely at some later point to reveal its deep worth. That’s when some along the Birds’ sideline revealed their deepest thoughts about their coach. That, they did by overturning a bucket of Gatorade in the general direction of his familiar green visor.
A sports standard, the Gatorade shower can be the highest form of immediate celebration. Traditionally reserved for situations more momentous than improving to 1-0 — like the Super Bowl, that kind of thing — it can also be used just to send a message. And the Eagles’ message Sunday was clear: By soaking their head coach’s back, they would show that they had it, too.
“To me, it’s everything I’ve been telling you guys,” Pederson said. “Just ask the players how they feel about me.”
They feel great about their head coach and everything else when they win. They might trend in a differ-
ent direction if they don’t. So typically it is a simple equation. But last week, when he was just professionally trying to prepare the Eagles to win by 13 on the road, Pederson was blindsided by Mike Lombardi. A failed NFL executive, Lombardi took to an internet broadcast to declare that Pederson was terribly unqualified to coach professional football. The story grew into a dayto-day topic for columnists and broadcasters. Even Jeffrey Lurie called a press conference, if not necessarily to publicly disagree with the premise, then at least to express his disapproval.
From there, there were rumors, then a published report that some players on the Eagles defense might prefer coordinator Jim Schwartz to Pederson as their head coach. So if ever a cooling-off were necessary, Sunday was the time, and Kamu Grugier-Hill and scratched defensive end Steven Means were caught on TV participating in the bucket-tipping.
“A Gatorade bath?” Malcolm Jenkins said. “I didn’t even see it. But it’s huge. He is someone who is young in this league and has really been pushing us to be a more consistent team, to be a real power in this league. And for us to start off 1-and-0, on the road, obviously we are happy for him as players, and with him being our leader.”
And the outside noise? Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, right, speaks with defensive tackle Fletcher Cox in the final moments of an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins, Sunday.
“Outside noise, exactly,” Jenkins said. “Nobody really cares about that. We’ve got a family mentality here. Everybody we’ve got in the locker room and the building is family. This is who we’re taking to battle, week in and week out. And we will let the outside noise stay outside.”
Strangely, it rarely works that way in a multi-billiondollar industry fueled by a perpetual news cycle. And because the outside noise doesn’t always stay muffled, sometimes it’s appropriate to counter a hot take with a cold bath. Since there are no explicit directions for a water-bucketdumping, and because there is no established moment when it is considered tasteful, Pederson chose Sunday to assume his was to celebrate the end to the Birds’ five-game losing streak to the Skins.
“We’ve been talking all week about kind of getting the monkey off our back, down here against the Redskins and particularly on the road,” Pederson said. “We haven’t done so well. We kept talking about it, and talking about it. And it was set up on the sideline and I got the bath. “Appreciative of it.” Of course, he was appreciative. For the message could not have been clearer: The Eagles … they like their head coach. That doesn’t mean they will always win. But it does mean that when they do, they appreciate his contribution.
“I’m especially happy for him,” Jason Kelce said. “As players, we don’t put a lot of thought or value into what outsiders may say or think. We know Doug Pederson is a great football coach. We know that. And obviously, we are happy to get out of here with a win, for him, and for this whole team.”
Like any group of NFL players, the Eagles will always express support for the individual who gets to decide who plays on Sunday. But at FedEx Field, the Eagles showed more. With a standard sports symbol of joy, they displayed their commitment to their head coach.
Typically, the first Sunday of a 17-week season would be considered too early to celebrate. But that was not a typical week for Doug Pederson.
“We love Doug, man,” Jordan Hicks said. “We love the relationship he has with us. We love his leadership ability. And we rally around him.”
They showed that for 58 minutes and 58 seconds Sunday. They showed it even more in those two wet, and telling, seconds to follow.