Miles Sanders on the Eagles pulling Jalen Hurts: “Nobody liked the decision”

Not unlike the entirety of their 2020 season, the coverage around the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 17 loss to the Washington Football Team has been truly exhausting.

It’s pretty annoying how the Eagles making a smart decision (FOR ONCE) to improve their draft position is getting a ton of negative attention when there are so many more meaningful gripes to be had with this organization.

That being said, it’s fair to argue that how (as opposed to why) the Eagles went about pulling Jalen Hurts for Nate Sudfeld like they did wasn’t handled as well as it could’ve been. It’s clear by now that not everyone was on the same page.

On Monday evening, the Inquirer’s Jeff McLane reported that “many players and coaches were shocked and outraged” by the Eagles’ decision to pull Hurts. And now we have an Eagles player going on the record with their dissatisfaction.

Miles Sanders had the following to say during an appearance with Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie on Tuesday’s 94WIP Midday Show:

“Man if I’m being honest, nobody liked the decision, nobody. That’s all I can say really. I don’t know who was the main person behind that decision. All I know is that a lot of people on the team was confused.”

It’s worth noting that Sanders was being rested in this game after he popped up on the injury report last week. One would imagine he could’ve played if he really had to, so the idea that the Eagles weren’t going all out to win shouldn’t be lost on him.

But, based on the reactions, it’s clear that the Eagles’ communication could’ve been better than it was. And the organization deserves blame for that.

Note that I say “organization” and not just “Doug Pederson.” That’s not to say Pederson isn’t culpable at all. But it should be very clear that the decision to play Sudfeld was not his alone, despite his insistence otherwise. Former Eagles defensive end Chris Long and I had a Twitter exchange relevant to this point:

It’s shameful how Pederson has been forced to take the brunt of what was likely a directive from above him. Then again, it’s certainly not the first time he’s taken a disproportionate amount of blame for this organization’s failures.

Anyway, the Eagles are a mess, and it’s hard to be hopeful about their future.

So ... who’s excited for the 2021 season?