Howie Roseman Regrets "Quarterback Factory" Comment, Speaks in Generalities During Season-Ending Press Conference
Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman spoke to reporters on Monday as part of season-ending media availability. Doug Pederson was also involved, though the majority of the questions obviously went to Howie, who speaks infrequently compared to the head coach.
There was a bit to unpack, but the most pressing questions centered around the quarterback controversy, with queries about the decision to draft Jalen Hurts in the second round of the 2020 draft.
Roseman didn’t give too much away, but was asked about the “quarterback factory” comments from last year, and said this:
“Well, of some of the things I’ve done this season, I certainly regret that comment about the ‘quarterback factory.’ Really (the comment) was in terms of the importance of the position around the league, the importance of the position to this organization, and really a reflection of our experiences with backup quarterbacks. Anyone who knows Carson Wentz knows how strong of a person he is, and knows how much he believes in his own abilities. In terms of why we didn’t have a good season, it’s not just on one player. When you look at the team as a whole, they didn’t perform up to expectations. The moves we made didn’t live up to expectations and to put it on Carson isn’t fair.”
He regrets that comment? Fair enough. All is forgiven. We will drop the snarky “quarterback factory” takes and tweets.
Next question –
In hindsight, how does Roseman feel now about drafting Jalen Hurts?
“It’s so raw right now to answer that, and not really dive into everything we’re doing. Not just on this decision but on other decisions. I think it’s hard to do. Part of the reason we’re talking today is because we felt we owed it to our fans to make sure we’re talking and not hiding. We’ll have other opportunities to continue talking. When you talk about Jalen and his talent and his work ethic, it’s all of the things we saw in college. The big picture, and how we’re building this team, you saw it last night, two teams playing for a playoff berth with their backup quarterbacks. As we go toward 17 games, depth is important in this league. I think that’s an important position where we try to find depth and certainly a guy we liked as a player.”
Okay, but “talking and not hiding” doesn’t mean anything if you are just going to bullshit your way through the questions without saying anything meaningful. If you owe it to the fans, give them a decent answer or two.
Here are more notes from the availability:
- Roseman says they went into the draft trying to find the “right guys” for their team. “I would say Jalen Reagor is a very young player, just turned 22, missed a bunch of games with injuries….”
- Howie says the season was disappointing, frustrating, and embarrassing.
- Asked about the possibility of trading Carson, Howie said “that is not anything we’re talking about right now.”
- Doug reiterated that his relationship with Carson Wentz is fine.
- Roseman is not worried about his job security.
- Non-answer to the story about Carson requesting a trade. Roseman didn’t say whether he spoke with Wentz’s reps.
- Biggest regret? Roseman says being aggressive in March based on CBA/cap projections.
- Howie has “incredible trust” in Doug Pederson and says Doug hires and organizes his own coaching staff, which is news to us. I guess Mike Groh and Carson Walch don’t count.
- Doug said he wants to spend some time with Jim Schwartz before making any comments about the defensive coordinator position.
- Pederson was asked again about tanking Sunday night’s game and gave a long and meandering answer about the entire season mattering. He didn’t really answer the question.
They did a fantastic job of saying absolutely nothing. Nice job by Howie and Doug, but the Eagles beat reporters did a good job of asking the appropriate questions. The GM and head coach just did the typical misdirection routine.
Here’s the full video:
Watch live as Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman speak to the media. https://t.co/M54e4w1t9N
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 4, 2021