Doug Pederson said Eagles offense didn’t play well enough, had too many penalties vs. Jets

The Eagles didn’t have a very hard time against the Jets on Sunday, and the defense was firing on all cylinders. Head coach Doug Pederson spoke with reporters following the win and talked about the offensive struggles and penalties in Week 5 and areas they need to improve moving forward.

Here’s what the head coach had to say:

On the defense

Pederson was asked if it was nice having a lead heading into the fourth quarter:

“Like he told the guys after the game, it’s obviously great to win in this league, and hard to win in this league, and there’s many way to win in this league. When you’re in the fourth quarter with that type of lead, it’s obviously nice to have. A lot of credit to the defense today, to get us that lead, and you can breathe a little bit — at least, halfway through the fourth quarter.”

Later on, the head coach was asked if he had concern about the pass rush the past few games. Pederson said that he wasn’t, and that a lot was made about Fletcher Cox and his lower-than-usual production, but that the veteran is coming on strong now and back into his rhythm. He noted that the defense notched 10 sacks on Sunday and he doesn’t have any worries moving forward.

On Orlando Scandrick

Pederson was asked about bringing back Orlando Scandrick and what they expected from him as someone who was with them during training camp but didn’t start the season with the team.

“He’s a veteran player, I didn’t have to have any conversation with him. He just kind of fit in, and did exactly what the defense, what Jim [Schwartz], dialed up today. It was great to see the effort that he had, he made some big plays today for us — obviously the touchdown there at the end of the game. And he’ll get better each week.”

As someone who coached against Scandrick several times, Pederson was asked what makes the CB so effective.

“He’s a smart guy, he times up the blitzes. Sometimes these guys can kind of slither their way through and get under blocks, and they’re quick enough to bend and edge the corner. This is who he is, and he’s a great addition, and we’re glad we were able to get him back.”

On Sidney Jones

Pederson said that Jones was healthy enough to dress, but he didn’t take a lot of reps during the week since they were trying to get him healthy. So, the cornerback was there as a backup, and they’ll assess and see where he’s at this coming week.

On the offense

When he was asked if he thinks they played well on Sunday, Pederson was quick to answer, “No” and later clarified that they didn’t play well enough offensively. He then went on to talk about some of the issues, including the penalties and on offense, the head coach said that they played really average.

“We’d take, for instance, a first down run for 8 or 9 and then have a holding, or a pass and either give up a sack or a holding. The penalties just put us in too many long situations today.”

Pederson talked about how the Jets have a good defense, but it was the penalties putting them in too many long situations. He also mentioned the Jets’ good pass rush as a reason that they didn’t have much success in passes downfield, and said that they need to take a hard look at the tape and really evaluate ways to improve, starting with him as the playcaller.

The head coach was also asked if the Jets were showing a lot of the same coverages throughout the matchup.

“He’s a 2-deep guy and there were variations of Cover 2 at the snap. He brought a lot of edge pressure with the corners and safeties. So, you know, it disrupts a little bit, keeps your backs in, things like that. And then he’ll switch gears and play single high man, and do the same thing. It’s a nice defense, it’s a complex defense, but I thought we didn’t do enough to overcome some of the mistakes that we made.”

Pederson later on was asked about missing DeSean Jackson and how much that impacted the offense. He mentioned that one guy can obviously add value — especially someone with Jackson’s speed and veterna experience —, but there are still 11 guys out there who are expected to execute.

He did go on to say that he thought the receivers did some nice things when the ball did get to them, and the tight ends did play well — Pederson said while shrugging his shoulders. He said that they just made too many mistakes.