Let's discuss some of the lowlights of yesterday's presser.
Follow @Eagles4thDown on Twitter for more content:
Carson Wentz Benching
McMullen:
Okay, hi Doug. You had mentioned after the game yesterday about Carson and not thinking about benching him -thinking it would send the wrong message. When you look back at the film and you start to think about moving forward in the NFC east and that message… Say that there was a 7-3 team in this division would that change your thinking?
Doug:
That's a hypothetical question and I’m not getting into that. -right now, we’re still in the hunt, I mean, we’re still leading the division. So, you know, we have a lot to play for right now.
We get it. Doug is behind Carson Wentz. He’s answered forwards and backwards about the possibility of benching Wentz. As long as Doug remains the head coach of this team, I don’t think Carson’s status changes. “Leading the division” is such a misguided way to represent yourself and your team as somewhat successful, knowing full well the hurdles you will have to overcome down the stretch of the season. You can say Doug is just displaying confidence in his team, which is fine, but loss after loss, disappointing performance after another, the confidence in your team shtick is nauseating.
Doug on Miles Sanders' Comments
Dan Gallen:
Yesterday, Miles Sanders said that the Browns made some adjustments after halftime. I think he said their linebackers started coming a little bit more downhill. When you looked at the film, what did you see from the Cleveland defense in the second half?
Doug:
[sharply] Their linebackers coming downhill.
The media isn’t entitled to any answers. However, this exchange is rude. Dan Gallen is asking an analytics question, not prodding, not taking shots, and comes away with nothing. I’m not looking deep into this, but Doug’s rude demeanor/arrogance seem to be growing with the team’s abysmal performances.
Doug Sticking With Jason Peters
Dave:
Doug, even before Jason Peters left the game yesterday, it seemed like he wasn't playing at a very high level. What did you make of his performance and is he your left tackle moving forward?
Doug:
Yeah, he's our left tackle moving forward. And look there were a lot of things, several things that stood out after watching the film, from a number of positions and not just one specific spot or aspect of the game offensively. As you've heard me say this before, there's enough to go around: running backs, tight ends, the quarterbacks, the receivers. A lot of work still needs to be done, but we can get it done.
This is above all, the most nauseating. This answer immediately brought me back to Doug’s presser early in the year, when he talked about how Jason Peters came into his office and said he would play left tackle and that it had nothing to do with money, although shortly thereafter, he received some coin from Howie Roseman. This entire Jason Peters situation gets more cloudier the more statements come forward.
Mailata, your 7th round potential hidden gem, played better in Peters’ absence than Peters has his last year and a half in Philadelphia. You can argue that if Mailata isn’t an upgrade, he can give you the same production, along with developing a young talent that’s not injury prone. Either way, logic says it’s time to move on, not to stand behind your about-to-retire and rapidly declining left tackle -especially when it’s at the detriment of the quarterback. If you want Carson to succeed, you put him in the best situation to succeed, right?
Getting Carson Out of the Pocket
Tim:
Doug, you get asked a lot about not rolling Carson Wentz out of the pocket more. Could you help give us insight into why that's not happening? Is it not part of your scheme? Is it something that Carson doesn't like? Does something have to happen first until you get to that part? Like, can you just help us understand that better?
Doug:
Probably the the number one thing is just me calling it more, honestly. We had success in the run game in the first half and my plan going into the second half was to get him out of the pocket, especially on first and ten situations -to do that. A couple of times, we had in this game plan, we had the movement throws also kill to a run. You know, a run check built into the game plan based on what the defense gave us. So, some of that came up where we got to the run as opposed to the the quarterback movement. But, honestly it's probably more me just calling them.
I like Doug’s honesty here, despite attempting to absolve himself with “Carson checking to runs on those plays”. This has been a recurring question for weeks now, as Doug has very seldom put Carson in the best situations to be successful. His answer seems deflated. Maybe he didn’t give these suggestions credence about Carson being on the move these past weeks and is now ready, as a herculean “what-else-do-I-have-to-lose” dive into those types of plays. It's not a particularly good look, especially how the notion has gained popularity through several weeks and Doug has done nothing but feed it's narrative.
Why is Jeffery on the Team?
Jeff McLane:
Why is Alshon Jeffery even being active? Why is he on the team?
Doug:
Why is he on the team?
Jeff McLane:
You have younger players, WR John Hightower’s only got one snap. What's the point of playing Alshon Jeffery at this point when he's not even going to be here next year, or unlikely to be? I think a lot of fans are wondering what are you doing with Alshon Jeffery?
Doug:
Well, right now he is a part of the offense. He's a part of what we've done and the success we've had here. He is coming off injury, and we do have to get him in the game a little bit more. You know, that's, again, on me to get him in the football game, and also Hightower at the same time.
This is probably my favorite exchange. Props to Jeff McLane for giving us this spicy drama. Again, this is blind loyalty. The defense of Alshon Jeffery is akin to former Phillies Manager, Gabe Kapler. Doug should support his players, yes. Though, he should also seek what’s best for his team. It really is hard to imagine Alshon has any place here, in terms of it’s success, especially when you’ve seen promising youth spin the wheels for this offense.
Doug on Jalen Hurts
Zach Berman:
Jalen Hurts played one offensive snap. Regardless of the way Carson is playing, why isn't Hurts on the field more and is this the type of workload and usage we should expect going forward?
Doug:
No, I think I could get him in the game a little bit more.
This answer is less than ideal. I think Zach was hoping for more, here. The Jalen Hurts pick continues to stifle fans as weeks go by. Not to mention, the package of plays Jalen Hurts currently runs are extremely vanilla. If “in the game a little bit more” isn’t more than at least 15-20 snaps, we can all agree, his insurance and/or usage has been the waste of a 2nd round pick value.
In fact, it seems the only thing the Jalen Hurts pick has given us thus far, is controversy.