Doug Pederson Explains the Eagles' Jason Peters Principle
PHILADELPHIA - There is supposed to be a fine line between genius and insanity. We can rework that a bit in Philadelphia where there seems to be little separating loyalty and at least a little bit of craziness when it comes to the Eagles' personnel decisions.
Underachieving veterans are taking hits on all fronts as the 3-6-1 Eagles season starts to come off the rails with the only thing seemingly keeping things together is the fool's gold of first place with that record.
Carson Wentz is the most notable punching bag but even five snaps of Alshon Jeffery is too much for some and many more can't figure out why Doug Pederson and Jeff Stoutland keep trotting out Jason Peters at left tackle.
Sunday's 22-17 loss in Cleveland complicates the Peters problem even more because it might have been the veteran’s' worst outing as a professional, allowing three sacks and seven pressures, according to ProFootballFocus.com.
That might have been explainable had Defensive Player of the Year candidate Myles Garrett been lining up opposite Peters but the superstar edge rusher was safely quarantined on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
It was Olivier Vernon doing that damage, for the most part, a fine veteran player but one who Peters would have swatted away with minimal effort in his prime.
At 38 with yet another early-game leg injury to deal with, Peters was as ordinary as it gets against Cleveland, and for whatever reason Eagles fans have latched on to Jordan Mailata in a way Stoutland certainly hasn't.
For the first time, it's hard to imagine that Mailata, who did get to play at both RT and LT with Lane Johnson also banged-up again, couldn't have offered more to the Eagles against the Browns.
Despite all that, Pederson again voiced the vote of confidence for Peters moving forward.
“Yeah, He’s our left tackle moving forward," Pederson said at his Monday afternoon press conference.
Pederson's plan to navigate these muddy waters has been to focus on his team and spread the blame, which is the prudent way to do things as a coach and an honest assessment of the issues plaguing Philadelphia.
Fans, however, generally want underperforming players to be held accountable, something that certainly hasn't happened at times with the Eagles.
"There were several things that stood out after watching the film, from a number of positions, not just one spot or aspect of the game, offensively," said Pederson. "… There’s enough (blame) to go around. O-line, running backs, tight ends, the quarterbacks, the receivers.
"A lot of work still needs to be done, but we can get it done.”
The crux seems to be evaluation vs. the Herm Edwards rule of "You play to win the game."
The Eagles aren't the first team in history to play veterans who are not necessarily in the plans for next season. In fact, every team does it every year.
Jim Schwartz explained it succinctly a few years ago. The offseason is for teaching, training camp is for evaluation and the regular season is about preparing for your next opponent.
The Eagles will act accordingly until they are ruled out of the playoff picture and the NFC East complicates matters because meaningful football isn't going away anytime soon.
Until then evaluation has to be placed on the backburner.
"None of it’s excusable,” said Pederson. “We all hold each other accountable, coaches, and players. And that’s why I keep saying that we’ve got a lot to play for, there’s a lot of pride here, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Tuesday and Thursday on "The Middle" with Eytan Shander, Harry Mayes, and Barrett Brooks on SportsMap Radio and PhillyVoice.com. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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