Doug Pederson explains why the failed 3rd-and-3 wasn’t Carson Wentz’s fault

Eagles’ head coach Doug Pederson spoke to reporters on Wednesday before practice about the possibility of getting a couple more players back from injury, what exactly happened with the missed pass on 3rd-and-3 against the Giants, and (again) talked about how Carson Wentz is coached in practice.

Here’s what the head coach had to say:

On returning injured players

Zach Ertz

Pederson expects Ertz to get back within the offense in practice and get comfortable again on the field. They’re going to ramp up his workload during Wednesday’s practice and see where he’s at. The head coach noted that defense’s haven’t really done much different without Ertz in the lineup aside from maybe little changes in the red zone and on 3rd down.

Isaac Seumalo

Pederson was asked about getting Seumalo back at left guard, and he said that they’ll see where he’s at this week in practice and hope there are no setbacks. They have struggled in the screen game with so many injuries on the offensive line, but they feel like their running backs can be explosive in space, and hopefully with Seumalo back on the field they’ll have some more options down the field.

Jalen Reagor

Pederson acknowledged that the rookie receiver hasn’t had a ton of production because he’s missed a lot of football. Later, the head coach said that the biggest things he missed in those 5 weeks were the reps and in-game snaps, and also working the timing out with Wentz.

Pederson would like to get Reagor some more touches, but there’s only one football and they have several explosive guys. They play so much fast-tempo offense that the ball could go anywhere — it’s not about scheming one guy, it’s about playing fast and executing. But, moving forward they’d like to get Reagor more touches.

On how Carson Wentz is being coached

“He’s being coached the way that we would coach any of our players. We coach them all the same, and we coach them all hard and aggressive, and we’re trying to get the most out of all our guys. It just so happens that the quarterback position is magnified, just like my position as head coach is magnified, every decision, every throw, everything that he and I do is going to get criticized, and that’s okay.

But, I know how he’s being coached and I know how he’s receiving the coaching, and how he’s practicing, and how he’s working with all the players, and working with the offensive line. And, I get it, it hasn’t been perfect, but we’re still working and we’re going to get better each week.”

On the failed 3rd-and-3 pass to Reagor

The head coach was asked about Carson Wentz’s missed throw to Jalen Reagor on 3rd-and-3 and he was very clear that the miss wasn’t the QB’s fault. He noted the blame fell on the coaches — to coach the play better — and the two young receivers. He explained that it was a designed pick play/rub play, and they didn’t execute the pick part of it and Reagor was a bit too far, which was why Wentz double clutched the ball.

Other notables

• Pederson admitted that defense’s are more aware of where Travis Fulgham is on the field and he’s drawing more coverage. Alshon Jeffery didn’t get that many snaps, but as his contributions increase, it should free up Fulgham a bit.
• The head coach also admitted that he can dial up more plays for Carson Wentz to get out of the pocket and throw on the run. He pointed out that they did call a couple of those on Sunday, and could do more in the future since the QB is dynamic with those opportunities.
• Despite their loss on Sunday, Pederson doesn’t expect to make any changes to how they practice or handle things during the week, although he did note that they’re at the point in the season where they can take the pads off a bit more and let guys rest a little.