Jalen Hurts saw his first snap under center on Sunday. The Eagles aren’t ready to expedite the learning curve.
Hurts has now seen six total snaps over the past two weeks, mostly in a decoy role where he has been lined up all over the formation. The dual-threat rookie did take a solo snap at quarterback against Cincinnati and then fumbled the ball during an exchange with Miles Sanders. He ran the ball two times for eight yards in Week 3.
Meanwhile, Carson Wentz continued to struggle as the franchise quarterback threw two more costly interceptions. He finished 29-of-47 for 225 yards, with a passing touchdown and a rushing score that tied the game. However, his play remains inconsistent and his throws inaccurate as evidenced by the lowest completion percentage (59.8) of his five-year career.
The cries to bench Wentz have been getting louder than Philly cop sirens, but Doug Pederson said that’s not happening. Not yet.
“No. You don’t go there. That is a knee-jerk reaction,” Pederson told SportsRadio 94WIP’s Angelo Cataldi. “That is a reaction to things that are sometimes, you know, the aura that is out there. That is not what we believe internally and we are going to continue to get better. Carson is our quarterback. We are going to get it fixed, he is going to get it fixed and you know, we got a long season — we are only a half-game out of first place for goodness sakes.”
Jalen Hurts gets in the game and runs it for a first.
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Pederson Backtracks on Decision to Punt
Pederson has also been catching heat for his baffling decision to punt on 4th-and-12 with the game on the line. The Eagles head coach essentially admitted he didn’t trust either his offense to pick up 12 yards or his defense to make a stop.
The other option was to try a 64-yard field-goal with Jake Elliott. Instead, Pederson (successfully?) played for the tie in a must-win contest. Brutal and awkward, to say the least.
Pederson defended the move on Sunday by saying he was hoping “something positive” might come out of the punt while later admitting he would re-evaluate the decision overnight. Well, looking back on it … Pederson said he would have probably taken a shot down the field and gone for it on fourth down.
Doug Pederson was just on with Angelo & @SportsRadioWIP gang & admitted he was wrong to punt at end of OT. It’s incredibly rare for a coach to admit he made bad call in a big spot. Hard to believe. I respect Doug for self-reflection & honesty – but still wish he’d tried the FG.
“But looking back on it, I would have probably gone the other way and maybe taken a shot down the field and put the ball up in the air,” Pederson told SportsRadio 94WIP. “Looking back on it, with clearer eyes this morning, a lot of things good have happened — DPI (defensive pass interference), illegal contact, could have been an offensive holding, could have been a sack. There’s a lot of things that go into those plays. Looking back on it, that’s probably what I would do.”
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside Sees 18 Snaps, No Targets
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside was supposed to be a bigger part of the gameplan in the absence of Jalen Reagor (thumb). After DeSean Jackson (hamstring) and Dallas Goedert (ankle) both went out on Sunday, he should have been used even more.
But the second-year receiver saw just 18 snaps and Wentz didn’t look his way once against Cincinnati. It’s becoming more and more apparent that Arcega-Whiteside is not a part of the team’s long-term plans, contrary to what Pederson told reporters last week.
“I’ve always been confident in J.J. What I like about J.J. is he’s a player that we can use in multiple positions,” Pederson said on Sept. 25. “He knows outside. He knows inside. Smart guy, and someone that we’re going to have to lean on a little bit here in these next couple of games.”
Eagles ran 86 offensive plays Sunday.
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside was out there for 18 of them. Eighteen.
John Hightower played 78, Greg Ward 76. Even Deontay Burnett got 39 snaps.
Here is the snaps breakdown from Sunday’s game:
Offensive Snaps
(91 snaps was 100-percent)
Carson Wentz: 91
Nate Herbig: 91
Jason Kelce: 91
Lane Johnson: 91
Matt Pryor: 91
Jason Peters: 89
Zach Ertz: 84
John Hightower: 78
Greg Ward: 76
Eagles WR Room w/o Dallas Goedert & DeSean Jackson in Week 3. Former AAF WR Greg Ward led Philly in receiving.
Zach Ertz – 92% snaps, 10 tgt
Greg Ward – 84% snaps, 11 tgt
John Hightower – 86% snaps , 3 tgt
Deontay Burnett – 43% snaps, 4 tgt
Richard Rodgers – 36% snaps, 2 tgt
Miles Sanders: 71
Deontay Burnett: 39
Richard Rodgers: 33
DeSean Jackson: 28
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside: 18
Boston Scott: 13
Corey Clement: 6
Dallas Goedert: 6
Jalen Hurts: 3
Jordan Mailata: 2
“The fight was there, the effort was there from guys. We just have to play smarter, play cleaner,” Carson Wentz said. “I have to be better, as well. It was a frustrating way to end the game, for sure.”
Defensive Snaps
(72 snaps was 100-percent)
Rodney McLeod: 72
Jalen Mills: 71
Nate Gerry: 70
Darius Slay: 66
Cre’Von LeBlanc: 59
Avonte Maddox is hurt.
Eagles down to four healthy CBs:
Darius Slay, Trevor Williams, Cre’Von LeBlanc, and Nickell Robey-Coleman.
Brandon Graham: 58
Fletcher Cox: 53
T.J. Edwards: 51
Malik Jackson: 42
Avonte Maddox: 39
Josh Sweat: 38
Derek Barnett: 38
Javon Hargrave: 32
Trevor Williams: 32
Nickell Robey-Coleman: 26
Hassan Ridgeway: 15
Genard Avery: 11
Marcus Epps: 8
Duke Riley: 7
Alex Singleton: 1
K’Von Wallace: 1
“Every team we match up against, they are going to fight. There are no easy wins and no easy games,” Brandon Graham said. “I just love that we stuck together through all the stuff that happened. We just messed up in the end. We can’t do that.”
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Doug Pederson Talks Eagles QB Controversy: ‘You Don’t Go There’