Eagles

Doug Pederson Not Interested in Predicting the Future, Wants Carson Wentz to Support Jalen Hurts in First NFL Start

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Dec 9th, 2020 · 11:30 AM EST

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Doug Pederson’s Wednesday press conference lasted about 10 minutes before the video feed crapped out, so we don’t know how it ended. Every single question up until that point was about Jalen Hurts and Carson Wentz, as expected.

The Eagles head football coach said he communicated with both players on Monday night, informing them of the decision that Hurts would start against the Saints on Sunday afternoon. It might be for just one game, or for the rest of the year, but Pederson wasn’t interested in talking about that.

“I don’t have a crystal ball,” Pederson told reporters. “I can’t predict the future, right? Come on. All I can focus on is today and getting our team prepared today and ready for Sunday.”

Alright, so let’s try a different question. What can Carson Wentz learn while sitting on the bench and watching from afar?

“I would expect him to be a professional and support his teammates and support Jalen through this. And then continue to work on his craft and continue to improve. That’s what leaders do. It’s not always the easiest thing. In my position you make tough choices and tough decisions, and then as players you need to own that and take responsibility yourself. I expect him to rally his troops, rally the guys, be supportive, and lead the team as well.”

One of the questions presented to Pederson was plucked off the “gotcha” tree and came via reference to a quote he dropped after the Browns game, explaining that he didn’t want to send the wrong message to the team and signal that their season was over.

Does this benching mean that now the season is indeed over?

“No, that was a comment a couple of weeks ago,” said the head coach. “My expectation is to go out and prepare and try to win every game that we play. Just like I said after the game Sunday, I was looking for a spark for our offense. A lot of times it comes from putting your quarterback on the bench for the backup. And that’s all I’m looking for here, a spark, a shot in the arm to pick the offense up. Everybody around Jalen or Carson has to elevate their game. They can’t do this alone. It’s impossible to attack an opponent with just one guy. But I fully expect our guys to go out, play hard, and do everything to try to win.”

(spoiler, the season is over)

But the more immediate question now involves the New Orleans Saints, who happen to have the NFL’s best defense. They’re only allowing 288 yards per game and 20.1 points. How does a rookie quarterback find success going up against these guys in his first start?

“I think in order to get him success you’ve got to attempt and try to establish a little bit of the run game,” explained Pederson. “That helps. He can be a part of that, I think. Just go out and try to find some easy completions, the quick game, or a screen here and there, something that can get him into the flow of the game. This is the #1 defense. It’s no easy task, obviously he’s facing a really good opponent this week. It’s our job as coaches and my job as a play caller to help him that way and get him into the flow of the game. We’ll see what happens from there.”

Paul Domowitch at the Inquirer noted that New Orleans hasn’t faced a “running” quarterback this season. They’ve played Tom Brady and Matt Ryan twice, Derek Carr, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Stafford, Justin Herbert, Teddy Bridgewater, Nick Foles, Nick Mullens, and Denver’s practice squad wide receiver, Kendall Hinton. Maybe that creates a unique situation the Eagles can benefit from.

“You’re right, they haven’t seen this type of quarterback this season,” Pederson said. “You may see more zone coverage, maybe a little more man on the outside and spy a safety or a linebacker. There are all kinds of things a team may do. We have to be prepared for everything as coaches, and as players we go play.”