Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman spoke at NovaCare today in their season-ending press conference. It’s typically a longer session, and this one ran about 35 minutes with the pair alternating turns at the podium answering questions from the media.

Here’s are some bullet point notes and some full quotes touching on relevant topics today:

  • In his opening statement, Roseman admitted that he needs to infuse some youth in the squad. “We’re going to have 10 picks in this draft and we’re excited about that.”
  • Roseman says they need to find a way to try to limit the injuries that have crippled them in recent years. They hired a new “chief medical officer” to observe the staff and “make recommendations” on how to address the problem.

On Alshon Jeffery, Roseman said this:

“We had a conversation with Alshon before the season and he took a pay cut in exchange for guaranteeing (his contract in 2020). We were trying to create as much flexibility going forward with our roster as possible to create cap space to improve the team. I think we forget some of the contributions to our team Alshon has had during our Super Bowl year, the injury he played with, not missing a game and the contributions in that game. Last year he had 11 catches during the playoffs. Even this year you look at his last game I think he had eight catches for more than 130 yards. Alshon is a talented player and he loves being an Eagle.”

More notes:

  • J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Roseman says, is a talented kid who needs to take a jump this offseason. “I don’t think we saw the best of J.J.” He admitted that they’ve noticed the success of DK Metcalf and other guys who were drafted after JJAW.
  • He didn’t really want to talk about where Metcalf was on their draft board.
  • Doug says WR coach Carson Walch and offensive coordinator Mike Groh did “an outstanding job” for him this season. “My hat goes off to both of those gentlemen.” Says it’s not easy for Walch to get young practice squad players ready to go.
  • Groh and Walch will both be back in 2020.
  • RE: Genard Avery and Golden Tate, Roseman says there’s been good communication with the staff regarding who is brought in midway through the year. Avery, Howie says, was viewed more as a young player that would pay off more in the future. Tate was a “win now” move.
  • Howie basically insinuated that the Greg Ward/Mack Hollins thing came down to special teams. Ward wasn’t going to be a starter, so Hollins had more value as a special teamer.
  • Malik Jackson was a big loss to the Eagles, according to Roseman.
  • Howie said that Nelson Agholor is one of the top-10 fastest receivers in the league, and they felt like they had speed on the field but that it didn’t work out for them.

On Jim Schwartz interviewing with Cleveland, Roseman deferred to Pederson:

“I love the fact that guys around the league and teams around the league are looking to my staff as possible head coaching candidates. I think of Frank Reich a couple of years ago and now Jim, he’s been a head coach and I think he’d make a tremendous head coach again. His leadership and what he’s brought to me and how I’ve been able to lean on him through his experiences, he’s done an outstanding job with our defense and the improvement we saw throughout the season. I’m excited for him and his opportunity.”

More:

  • Howie felt like having a veteran returner was important and part of the reason they brought back Darren Sproles. Also felt like he’d be a good mentor for Miles Sanders and Boston Scott.
  • Pederson is committed to playing 12-personnel long term, which has been a productive group for them. Part of playing heavy 12 this year was a result of receiver injuries.
  • Doug called the Jadeveon Clowney hit on Carson Wentz “unfortunate” and said it’s “possible” it was an illegal hit. More disappointed for Wentz than anything. They’ve encouraged him to use his legs when necessary.
  • Wentz is “doing extremely well.”
  • Roseman believed that there could be a correlation between the age of roster and spate of injuries. “The simple answer is yes.”
  • They will announce new additions to the football operations staff in the coming days. Pederson is “not opposed” to bringing in an outside voice to provide a “different perspective, different eyes” to how things are being done. He pointed out that he did that with Matt Burke this season on the defensive side of the ball.
  • Howie admitted that one of his weaknesses is “getting attached to his players.”

On Malcolm Jenkins, Roseman:

“We’re not gonna talk about contracts with any players, but it’s important to us that we have discussions with our players and communicate with them. We obviously understood that where Malcolm was when it came to training camp, and the conversations we have. What an incredible Eagle, incredible person and incredible player he is and has been for us. After that we’ll keep those conversations between us.”

Here’s the full video: