Eagles’ Pederson left all alone

Eagles coach was first and only representative available at Wednesday’s press conference

PHILADELPHIA » Since they have come to find it the only way they can make anything work, the Eagles trusted Doug Pederson Wednesday to design another tricky play.

Not enough that within the hour he would have been responsible for guiding a rehabbing franchise quarterback in a breakthrough seven-on-seven drill, the Eagles would make it their head coach’s responsibility to X-andO through that other issue too.

Just three days after so many of his players would big-time an invitation to celebrate their world championship at the White House that the president told them all to stay away, it was Pederson who would be the first and the only Eagles representative to be rolled into a press conference for a response.

“Good to see so many people here for an OTA practice,” he quipped after surveying an auditorium crowded not just with the usual football writers, but with the hurry-to-the-scene national TV crews. “This is great. Welcome.”

Jeffrey Lurie was not there. Neither was Don Smolenski. Howie Roseman apparently was not welcome. Who knows? Maybe they all were using burner Twitter accounts to shape public opinion. But there was Pederson, all by his lonesome, scrambling for daylight … and nicely avoiding violent contact.

“I was looking forward to going,” he said of the cancelled

MATT SLOCUM — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Eagles coach Doug Pederson is all smiles as he addresses the media during a news conference Wednesday at the team’s practice facility. Pederson was left alone to deal with the aftermath of the cancellation of the team’s visit to the White House.