Pederson handled QB situation perfectly
NEW ORLEANS >> The Eagles found their moment of clarity two months ago here in the form of a blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Never again, they vowed. Backed it up by winning six of their next seven games, the latest in a photo finish over the Bears.
Doug Pederson’s moment arrived the first weekend of September after he ripped the local media for putting words in his mouth via a league report that Nick Foles would start the regular season opener instead of Carson Wentz. The day after Pederson, in somewhat juvenile fashion, wouldn’t confirm the report. He read a statement in front of the media. Foles was the guy.
It was a gaffe that everyone following the team witnessed and rolled their eyes at. The players weren’t just talking about it, they wanted to know what would come next. Including Wentz.
Pederson’s actions since have spoken louder than his words. You could write an Eagles best-seller about the way he’s managed the quarterback position, how it’s benefited the team and salvaged the season.
Though the drama is far from over, the defending Super Bowl champions are united and just one victory over the Saints from advancing to the conference championship. And to think they were
to losing a piece of their football souls.
The Eagles are here because Pederson persuaded 2017 regular season MVP candidate Wentz, who cost the Eagles considerable capital to select in the draft, that he was still the guy and they would get back to him when he was healthy. They’re here because Foles, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, used his considerable power of focus to rally the Eagles to
On the schedule
four straight victories.
The Eagles are here because Pederson, the consummate grinder, dismissed even the hint of a quarterback controversy in a multitude of ways.
Getting Wentz to step aside peacefully after he played his best quarter of the season in Dallas was amazing. The hairline fracture in Wentz’s back is real. It kept him awake at nights. But Wentz still didn’t want to shut it down. He sought clearance to play from outside medical people.
All Pederson promised Wentz is that he’s still their guy and would remain on the 53-man roster just in case the healing accelerates.
When the Eagles oppose the Saints Sunday, it will mark the fourth straight game Wentz has been scratched.
Managing the quarterback position is everything in the NFL because you cannot fool the players. Pederson is killing it. The Eagles have turned what could have been a disaster into a gentleman’s agreement.
It’s still hard to believe Wentz has taken this so passively. Others would have demanded a trade. Especially with Foles performing at a higher level each week despite knowing his days are numbered.
Foles is unique, and then some.
“I think he knows it’s there,” offensive tackle Lane Johnson said. “But I think he does a good job of kind of putting himself in a kind of box to where he just focuses on stuff that he can control. It’s probably very difficult. Playing quarterback in this league is already one of the hardest jobs there is. He’s just in an unusual circumstance. But if there’s any guy that can handle it, I think it’s him. That’s kind of been his MO for his career.”
Foles functions so well with Pederson, you wonder why the Eagles don’t keep both quarterbacks. Paired with Pederson, he’s 9-2 with a Super Bowl title. Foles is 23-6 in his career with the Eagles.
The only real question about Foles is the one already there with Wentz: Can he stay healthy for a full season?
“You don’t know what’s going to happen next year but we all do think about it,” Johnson said. “And what we try to do is make the time we do play, make it count. My rookie year with Nick, having 27 (TDs) and two (interceptions), he showed what he was capable of. Even with Carson, just the freak stuff he did last year before he ever got injured, and some of the throws he made this year. You go, ‘yeah, this guy can do it.’ Once he gets healthy, once he gets back confidence it will be over for a lot of people. That’s kind of where we’re at. The situation we’re in, you don’t get blessed like this too much.”
Johnson thinks there’s a 50-50 chance Foles returns. Keeping both quarterbacks would be costly as Foles is in line to make at least $20 million next season. If both are healthy, it would turn the position into an open competition the Eagles don’t need. Wentz certainly wouldn’t take a healthy demotion sitting down, excuse the pun.
It’s also reasonable to believe that if anyone could manage such a situation, it’s Pederson.
Pederson has come a long way from that tantrum-throwing guy who refused to concede whom his quarterback would be in the opener.
And the way the Eagles have responded to his example, they could go a lot further.