Here is a brief list of some notable figures ripping into Doug Pederson following his (or seemingly his) decision to bench Jalen Hurts in favor of Nate Sudfeld in the fourth quarter of the Eagles' Week 17 contest against the Washington Football Team:
*Doug Pederson should be ashamed. What happened to "integrity of the game"? - Jim Trotter
*I don't know how Pederson stood in the locker room after the game and looked his team in the eye and says: 'I tried to win that game.' - Shannon Sharpe
*Doug Pederson is a disgrace to professional sports. - Dan Shaughnessy
*Doug Pederson, you f---ing loser! You f---ing loser... Shame on you, you f---. - Michael Rapaport
Etc., etc. There's also the side of the argument that doesn't think the Birds' head coach did anything wrong and that the Eagles were right to tank the game, ultimately gunning for the better draft pick after giving Hurts one last run for the season.
But for both sides, former quarterback Trent Dilfer wants to make his point clear: this may not have been Doug Pederson's doing at all. He explained his reasoning on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" on Monday afternoon.
"...There's no way that this is Doug's decision," Dilfer said. "Because Doug's a football dude. He's grown up around the game. He was a blue collar backup quarterback. He was all about the team, he was all about the locker room. I think that's what's made him a successful coach early in his coaching career.
"I really believe that his strings were being pulled by the front office, that that was not his decision. There's no way he would make that decision to do that to Jalen Hurts, to do that to the countless guys that at this time in the season, winning the game matters. It doesn't matter what your record is, doesn't matter what your draft status is. None of that stuff matters once the ball is kicked off... you're trying to win a football game. Everything in the NFL is about winning the game that you're playing."
Pederson did say that it was his own decision on Monday morning when talking with Angelo Cataldi on SportsRadio 94WIP.
Dilfer's view regarding Week 17 and playing to win no matter what is very similar to what Eagles star center Jason Kelce expressed a couple of weeks back in the midst of a tough season, one that only got worse.
For these reasons, Dilfer wasn't happy about the Eagles' decisions, regardless of whether or not Pederson was directly responsible.
"I actually got angry when that happened, because I put on my kind of football player, team hat and remembered the years of sacrifice you make, and the brothers that you have in the locker room that are sacrificing so much each week to get ready to play," Dilfer explained. "And then I started thinking about what Week 17 feels like to the center, to the defensive tackle, to the linebacker, that physically is putting his livelihood on the line each week. At the end of the year he's beat up, he's tired, he's dealing with five, six, seven, eight nagging injuries... and you're robbing him of a chance to win a football game."
For players like Zach Ertz, Carson Wentz and Kelce himself, this Week 17 contest may be the last one they'll ever witness as a part of the Eagles organization, and it won't be too fond of a memory by any standards.
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