Doug Pederson says Jalen Hurts will be the Eagles’ starting QB in Week 17

Eagles’ head coach Doug Pederson spoke to reporters on Monday afternoon, and now that the team is out of playoff contention, talked about his future with the team, a look into quarterback and roster personnel moving forward, and also gave quite a few injury updates.

Earlier on Monday, Pederson mentioned in his call to 94WIP that he was confident he would be the head coach of the Eagles in 2021. He elaborated to reporters that he has a lot of conversations with owner Jeffrey Lurie, and his confidence comes from him knowing what fixes need to be made and from his history of success — making it to the postseason three times during his tenure and the Super Bowl win.

Pederson did explain how this down season affected him personally, and included an apology for fans.

“This season has been tough for myself personally as the head coach here. Obviously as the team and dealing with the pandemic and just everything that’s really hit us through injury and not playing well, it’s very disheartening.

I just sit here today and just have to apologize to the fans. Really just this is not what we expected. It’s not what I expected back in training camp and the early part of the season.

But I know in my heart that this is a great place to play, a great place to coach. We do have the best fans. When we win, it’s unbelievable. It’s exciting. I know we can get back to that level.”

Here’s what else the head coach had to say:

On the QB situation moving forward

Pederson announced that Jalen Hurts will be the starter for their Week 17 matchup against Washington to close the season. The head coach mentioned wanting to continue to evaluate not only Hurts, but the rest of the team moving forward.

When later asked about who is the quarterback for the future is for the team, Pederson admitted he doesn’t have an answer for that.

“Things can obviously change, and we’ll answer that at a different time.

I just know that we’ve got to get back to fundamentals, back to basics. Having a missed off-season, we got to get back to that. We got to get back to the teaching of the basics and the fundamentals and having OTAs and having practice and getting back to the things that we’ve had success here in the past.”

He talked about getting back to where they were and leaning on the past a little is something that comes with a full offseason moving forward. Pederson admitted that there’s a lot of decisions to be made, but ultimately he knows that they can back to the success they had a few years ago, get back to the fundamentals, and start creating an identity.

On the roster moving forward

“I want to be a part of the solution. I want to be a part of the evaluation process. I want to be a voice that’s heard, and I want to have that collaborative communication with Howie [Roseman] and his staff and be a part of that process.

I don’t necessarily want to cross that line because it takes you away from doing your job as the head football coach. I like being on the football side of things as a former football player and obviously now a coach. That’s where my passion lies.

But yet, I want to be part of the solution. I want to help evaluate and help bring guys in here that can help us win.”

On the team’s regression since the Super Bowl win

Pederson pointed to the number of injuries sustained and the number of guys on injured reserve as the biggest thing that has affected the team. He also noted that there are so many young players and new faces out there, and the young guys are getting playing time due to the number of injuries.

“You look at the offensive line. Let’s just start there. You lose Brandon Brooks in the off-season; Andre Dillard goes down; then Lane [Johnson] and [Jason Peters], and your entire O-line. Isaac [Seumalo] is out for eight weeks. Where are you going to find continuity? How are you going to get continuity there?”

The head coach said that you can’t call it a demise because it’s been such a strange year all around, and he looks at things a little differently.

Injury updates

• Pederson said that he didn’t think DeSean Jackson got hurt doing a flip after that first touchdown play, but rather his foot became more sore as game wore on and eventually affected him to the point he couldn’t be himself.
• Jordan Mailata is in the concussion protocol this week.
• Derek Barnett from last week is pushing through his injury, and they’ll see where he is come game time on Sunday night.
• Fletcher Cox is in a similar situation after being injured early against the Cowboys, and they’ll see how he does as the week goes on.
• Shaun Bradley is a little a banged up, and is more day-to-day this week.
• They’re hoping to get Davion Taylor and Duke Riley back this week, as well as Richard Rodgers who is doing well.