Doug Pederson Still Pondering his QB Choice, Addresses Report of him "Stepping Down"
The great quarterback decision has not been made, yet.
Doug Pederson is still reviewing which quarterback will start against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
A day after benching Carson Wentz for rookie Jalen Hurts with 7:39 to go in the third quarter of what turned out to be a 30-16 loss to the Green Bay Packers, Pederson is still pondering which way to turn.
“I’m still processing a lot of things and going through a lot of things before I make that decision,” he said on Monday afternoon in his weekly day-after-game videoconference call. “When I know, you’ll know.”
The quarterback debate isn’t the only thing on Pederson’s plate. There is also a report that he will step down at the end of the season.
Earlier in the day, during his weekly radio show on 94WIP Sports Radio’s morning show with Angelo Cataldi, Pederson he called that report, “laughable.”
He said that he and the front office, including owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman, have a good relationship.
“My relationship with Howie and Jeffrey and the front office, it couldn’t be better, it couldn’t be stronger,” said Pederson. “We talk all the time. We’re collaborative. We’re on the same page.”
As for the QB decision, one thing Pederson made clear in his afternoon session with beat reporter is that he will be the one making it without any input from players or other coaches.
“This will be my decision,” he said. “…it will solely be up to me.”
Asked why such a decision that could alter the course of this franchise not only over the final four games but into the offseason and beyond, Pederson said his guide will be the collection of experiences culled from roughly 25 years of NFL experience as both a player and coach.
“I’ve been through it personally as a player, and so, I’ve kind of experienced that from a players’ perspective,” he said. “And the feedback that I got from Coach (Andy) Reid at the time, so I can lean on that experience. And really, I don’t necessarily want to be swayed by others’ opinions because sometimes that can cloud judgment.
“Then again, even sometimes as a play-caller, you kind of go with your gut. You see things in-game and make decisions in-game that hopefully benefit the football team. So, kind of with that being said, I feel that’s the right thing to do in this situation.”
Since Wentz was drafted second overall in 2016, Pederson has said a few times that he and his quarterback were "married" in trying to win games. He said on Monday that they still are, but the coach also said that he has to take into account the best interests of the football team when making his decision.
“He and I are definitely in this situation (and) we have to work ourselves out of (it),” said the coach. “My job is to help him and to help him improve and get better and to help this football team win. My job is also to take and look at the big picture and look at the entire football team. Those are all things I have to consider as we move forward.”
Pederson did not want to get into why he pulled Wentz, though continued to say that the team needed a spark and that Hurts provided one.
“I really don’t want to get into specifics right now,” said Pederson. “This is between me and the coaches and the team. These are things that I don’t need to publicly air all of our critical mistakes and errors that our football team made. … I’m not going to sit here to point the finger or point blame, especially at the quarterback position because there’s enough to go around.”
Pederson declined to set a deadline for when the decision will be made and doesn’t think keeping it a secret will be any competitive advantage as far as the Saints not knowing who the quarterback will be, basically, because it will be a hard-to-keep secret.
“I do think it’s important that once I make the decision, whoever that is, that they take the bulk of the reps,” said Pederson. “That’s how they prepare during the week.
“As far as the competitive advantage goes, I feel that I can probably say that this is going to stay quiet, but it probably won’t, right? It’s probably going to get out, and you guys are going to find out and all that.
“As far as the competitive advantage, though, I do feel like the longer you can kind of keep the opponent waiting on a dual quarterback situation, it could possibly help a little bit. But we’ll see how the week goes. I’m kind of processing this right now, but as soon as I make a decision, I’ll probably let you know sooner than later.”
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