Pederson makes it clear he wants to stay in Philly

Doug Pederson led the Philadelphia Eagles to the franchise’s only Super Bowl title with a backup quarterback just three years ago and followed up with consecutive playoff appearances.

He’s not planning to bail after one losing season.

“I don’t want out of Philly,” Pederson told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “It is a great place to work.”

Pederson, who has two years remaining on his contract, shot down any notion that he’d like to get out of his deal or get fired so he can go coach another team.

“That is the furthest from the truth,” he said.

Despite a dismal 4-9-1 record and a quarterback controversy, the Eagles are still in the race for the NFC East title. They need victories over Dallas (5-9) and Washington (6-8) in the final two games plus Washington must lose to Carolina (410) this week and the New York Giants (5-9) have to lose one of their last two games.

Washington is a 2 ½-point favorite over the Panthers and the Giants are 11-point underdogs at Baltimore.

The Eagles overcame big odds to get in the playoffs in 2018. They needed Chicago to win in Minnesota as a 6 ½-point underdog in Week 17. The Bears knocked off the Vikings, the Eagles beat Washington and earned a wild-card spot. Then, Nick Foles led them to a playoff win at Chicago before losing to New Orleans in the divisional round.

“We have had a ton of success around here in my five years here,” Pederson said. “This is a down year for a lot of reasons, but we are still in the thick of it. It’s all about getting into the tournament.”

Injuries have forced Pederson to shuffle his offensive line unit, using 13 different combinations in 14 games. Only center Jason Kelce has started every game. Key offensive starters Miles Sanders, Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert, Jalen Reagor, Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson have also missed significant time.

Three starters in the secondary were out last week and