The Philadelphia Eagles host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, including their new head coach Doug Pederson. He took some time on Wednesday to speak with Philly reporters about what he expects from fans after his return to The Linc, why he’s not surprised by Jalen Hurts’ success this season and that Nick Sirianni has the qualities to be a good head coach.
Here’s what the former Eagles head coach had to say:
On returning to Philly
Pederson said he’s over how things ended with the Eagles, and that was two years ago, and he’s just focused on getting his team ready for the game.
“Personally, I’m looking forward to returning to Philadelphia. Obviously we have a lot of good memories there and what we did in 2017 will always stay with us.”
The head coach was also asked what kind of reception he expects from Eagles fans.
“I remember when I was with the Chiefs and Coach Reid, we came back and he got a standing ovation, so hopefully it’s in that area, but look, it’s Philly, anything is possible with these fans. I’m looking forward to running out of the tunnel with the Jaguars and then getting ready for a game there at one o’clock.”
On Jalen Hurts
“With Jalen, nothing surprises me. Just knowing what kind of person he is. When the Eagles drafted him in 2020, everything you see now is everything we saw in him when we drafted him. Number one, he’s just a great person, there’s stability around him with coaches now.
Pederson went on to say that Hurts plays really well and he really uses all the guys around him to win. He also mentioned that Hurts was the same path in 2020, being the first in the building and the last out of the building and making the most of his time.
“He’s a sponge. he wants to learn He wants to get better. He’s a professional and he takes it seriously. Those are the things you want from your quarterback, from the leader of your team. So it’s no wonder he’s still doing it.”
Speaking of Hurts’ rookie season in 2020, Pederson spoke about how he always ran a development program after practice on Wednesdays and Fridays, and the QB took full advantage of that — not just from game planning and understanding the terminology, but also of reps with the players and threw as many routes as he could. Pederson pointed to this essence when he really began to see Hurts’ work ethic.
“It’s not surprising that he’s playing so well. He’s prepared for it – as I mentioned, the stability around him and the success that comes with it helps. I just hope we can do that with our guy, Trevor Lawrence, down in Jacksonville.”
To Nick Sirianni
“You see his leadership qualities, he’s an attacking guy. He leads this team by example. He’s enabled himself to be successful just with the coaches around him – he obviously leans on them for help and support and he’s a smart guy and he understands ball. He understands his team . And that’s the thing, I think it’s a quality to be successful in this league as a head coach, to understand your players and he does that. And he connects with them on a personal level, which is really good.”
other personalities
- Pederson spoke about the similarities between starting with a new team in 2016 and now in 2022. He pulls a lot of news and learned a lot of lessons from his rookie year of 2016 and he has a really young team in Jacksonville and they are inquisitive. It’s his job to apply the lessons he’s learned over those five years to his players now.
- The former Eagles head coach said he’s spoken to some coaches on his staff who are familiar with Nick Sirianni to get a little insight into their mindset, but now it’s more about game planning. Pederson also noted that he did not personally reach out to Frank Reich about Sirianni, but said he was unsure if any of his assistants did.
- Pederson said taking a year off in 2021 was really good for him. It gave him time to be with his family and recharge his batteries for the game and coaching. He said one of the things he learned from his five years in Philly was to have a little more fun with everything they do and not be so stressed out all the time.