Getty Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, with his top assistant Duce Staley.
Has Doug Pederson lost the Eagles’ locker room after six weeks? The reports of total dysfunction are flying faster than Superman.
It all started late Wednesday evening when ESPN’s Josina Anderson dropped a nugget from an anonymous player saying that he thought GM Howie Roseman “dropped the ball” by not getting a deal done for Jalen Ramsey.
On Thursday, Anderson appeared on ESPN’s “NFL Live” show to further pound home the point by relaying that a source — presumably the same anonymous player — had told her that Carson Wentz wasn’t running the offense in an efficient manner. The most troubling part of the quote called into question Wentz’s long-perceived inability to “check it down” when nothing else is there.
“With the team being 3-3, an Eagles source also talked to me about how they feel like that offense is functioning,” Anderson said, as transcribed by 94WIP, quoting the source as saying: ‘We need to make bleep simpler. Sometimes we need to just handle what is manageable. Even Peyton Manning knew when to check it down.'”
Anderson went on to reveal some numbers of her own about Wentz and the offense:
“Carson Wentz right now is 38-percent on passes that travel 15 air yards, has three interceptions on passes like that, which is tied for most in the league,” Anderson said. “He also has 148 passes on those that are 10 yards or fewer, right now he has nine touchdowns and zero interceptions on passes like that so I do think it is an apt point.”
This isn’t a good look for the team.
Not after the recent ruckus Zach Brown caused when he openly trashed Kirk Cousins in the media (yes, he’s gone now).
Not after Miles Sanders seemed to criticize the play-calling by liking a disparaging Instagram post.
Not after Malcolm Jenkins seemed to call out the Eagles’ struggling secondary.
It’s been a wild week in South Philadelphia and there are still three more days until kickoff.
Eagles RB Miles Sanders liked a comment on Instagram criticizing Doug Pederson’s playcalling and the way he’s being used. The comment reads:
“Not his fault the only carries he (Sanders) gets are on that stupid sweep play. Never works.”
Has Doug Pederson Lost the Locker Room This Season?
From all accounts, Doug Pederson is genuinely liked and respected by his players. They consistently stick up for him and always play hard. But losing games is a relatively new thing for this bunch, an epidemic ripe for treason.
Has the head coach totally lost the locker room? The short answer is no.
Pederson did put himself in the cross-hairs when he challenged injured cornerback Sidney Jones to man up and fight through the pain. But Jones responded and the coach dismissed the notion he needed to send additional motivational messages through the media.
“No. I think with the team we’re extremely close. When you watch us and put the coach’s copy on and you watch where we are, we’re not far off,” Pederson told reporters. “I feel like we just have to continue to work. We’re six weeks in. This is week seven.”
Doug Pederson’s comments regarding Sidney Jones is how every #Eagles fan feels.
Rookie year he sat out.
2nd year he was in and out of the lineup.
3rd year he continues to be in and out of the lineup.
Can’t count on him, even if he goes into a game “healthy.”
Annoying.
“Really, you look up and you have a 10-game season in front of you,” Pederson continued. “So nothing that’s happened this week is any indication of how I feel about the football team. I still have full confidence in what we’re doing and in my coaches.”
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Eagles Locker Room Rapidly Turning into Dysfunctional Situation