Jeff McLane has been notably critical of Doug Pederson and the Eagles going back to the summer. He doesn’t strike me as a guy who holds grudges – that’s what I’m here for – so when he decides to lay into them, it’s worth taking notice. He pulled no punches today skewering basically the entirety of the top brass for their failure to speak – on anything – and letting Doug Pederson, a puppet, take the incoming:

But it’s worth noting that while Pederson has to stand up four times a week and take the bullets – three times before Schwartz is league-mandated to talk – the coach given autonomy over the defense skirts accountability after games along with the man with about as much power as any NFL executive, who talks during the season only when it serves him.

Schwartz isn’t required to answer questions, but he’s the first Eagles defensive coordinator to not talk after games since as far back as anyone can remember.

“I’ll stand up here and take the heat,” Pederson said. “I’ll take the good, the bad, the ugly, the indifferent. One way or the other, it’s no difference to me. I’ve got to do that. It’s what I signed up for.”

What else would you expect someone who went from quality control coach to head coach in six years and wasn’t interviewed for the top job by any other team to say? Pederson also thinks that Lurie is the best owner in the NFL (without a Super Bowl) and Roseman is the best GM in the NFL (without a playoff victory), in case you were wondering.

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So what’s going on here? As I wrote yesterday, Pederson’s press conference was bad. He was out of his depth. Like he’s been doing since he got here, he often contradicted himself or stated head-scratching falsities. McLane, in his piece, is alluding to the fact that the biggest fear with Pederson – that he was going to be an Eagles puppet, the anti-Chip Kelly who could be controlled by Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman – is playing out right before our very eyes. Pederson was in the dark on the Lane Johnson situation this summer, he was grossly uninformed about the Eagles’ plans for Josh Huff, and McLane posits that the decision to bench Nelson Agholor may not have been his. Worse, Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman and Jim Schwartz won’t answer questions, and Pederson, who is ill-equipped as a spokesperson, is forced to be the point man on stuff that doesn’t pertain to him.

Does anyone else notice a continual failing by Jeffrey Lurie? What other organization has this amount of turmoil? If it’s not executive sword fights or coaching power struggles, it’s miscommunication between front office members or curious personnel decisions. No other team does this with this frequency, except for maybe the Browns. The supposed Gold Standard, the Eagles are usually a creaky mess, with its top brass often seemingly rowing in different directions. Who knew that putting Howie back in charge would lead to an awkward dynamic where the head coach is a figurehead? Go Birds!