Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. Photo by Jesse Simmers / contrastphotography.com

Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson Press Conference
12.2.16

COACH PEDERSON: Good morning. Let me just update you on a couple guys that will be actually out of this football game: [RB] Ryan Mathews, he’s doing better. He actually was able to do some more running and some change-of-direction stuff, but we’re going to keep him out of this football game, obviously on a short week. And then Big V [T Halapoulivaati Vaitai], as well, he’ll be ruled out for this week. [WR] Jordan Matthews right now is questionable. And then [DE] Marcus Smith with his shoulder from last week’s game is okay and he’ll be good to go.

Q. How is WR Jordan Matthews doing?
COACH PEDERSON: Jordan’s doing good. He got a little sore yesterday. And we kept him on a limited basis yesterday and then we’ll try to get more out of him today and see where he’s at. We’ll be outside, so [we’ll] get a good chance on the grass.

Q. It seemed the offensive changed last week when you were down to three receivers. Would you consider activating five this week in case WR Jordan Matthews is slow out there?
COACH PEDERSON: That’s something obviously I have to consider. It really kind of depends on today and how well Jordan comes out of today and see where he’s at.

Again, it’s a short week and getting right back out there on Wednesday. Yesterday was probably – I don’t want to say it hurt him – but obviously it was good to put him out there. And so yeah, the decision could be based on how well he [does] or doesn’t come out of today.

Q. Do you plan on playing WR Nelson Agholor on Sunday?
COACH PEDERSON: I plan on keeping him in the mix because of Jordan’s [Matthews] situation right now. [We’re going to] definitely keep him alive. He’s had a good week of practice, obviously yesterday and on Wednesday. So, [we are] definitely keeping him alive for this week.

Q. If you only activate four receivers, will he be the odd guy out?
COACH PEDERSON: If there’s only four? Well, you didn’t say the four, so no.

Q. How is the offense different when WR Jordan Matthews is not out there or Jordan is limited? It seemed that in the second half, there were problems there.
COACH PEDERSON: Once we got away from Jordan and he came out of that game, I went with more of the tight ends with [TE] Trey [Burton] and [TE] Zach [Ertz] a little bit. That’s a role that [WR] Paul Turner obviously could fill, as well, and the more experience he gets, obviously he could fit that position as a slot receiver.

Everybody else is primarily outside guys, DGB [WR Dorial Green-Beckham], even Nelson [Agholor] is outside, and [WR] Bryce [Treggs] are outside guys. So, [we] kind of lean more towards the tight ends in those situations.

Q. In the last game, did having RB Wendell Smallwood as the lead back in back instead of RB Ryan Mathews lead to the disparity in run plays to pass plays?
COACH PEDERSON: Not really. Again, that’s something – when I go back ask evaluate after the game – it’s something I have to consider more of: Did I run the ball enough or throw the ball enough or not enough or did I do it too much, one way or the other.

But no, that did not dispel anything, run or pass.

Q. With WR Nelson Agholor, keeping him in the mix, does that mean he’s going to be active on Sunday?
COACH PEDERSON: Yeah, there’s a good chance again. I have to find out how Jordan [Matthews] does today and see really. Just getting on Nelson, his mind has been great; his attitude has been really good; he’s been working hard. So, right now, nothing says not keeping him up, keeping him out. Everything’s leaning towards keeping him active.

Q. Why not a 100 percent call having him back out there? What’s holding him back?
COACH PEDERSON: Who’s “him?”

Q. Nelson.
COACH PEDERSON: Keeping him back?

Q. I mean, why not just say 100 percent he’s going to be active? Why are you hedging still?
COACH PEDERSON: I’ve got two days. I’ve still got two days. I’ve kind of been a believer of I don’t want to rush into anything. Because when you put that [deactivated] list in and guys are down, that’s it. It’s set in stone.

So, if I can wait till the last second, I’m going to wait till the last second and just see, because we still have today. And having five guys right now working in the mix, if something were to happen today or tomorrow – an illness could happen, like [G] Brandon [Brooks] last weekend – it keeps five guys alive. So, it’s hard to just commit right now at this point.

Q. But I’m just wondering from WR Nelson Agholor’s point of view, what’s holding him back? Why can’t he just be active now? Is he still not right in the head?
COACH PEDERSON: No, that’s what I was getting too earlier. He’s fine. He’s fine. That’s what I’m saying.

Q. So there’s a chance, theoretically?
COACH PEDERSON: There’s a chance. Theoretically there’s a chance, yeah.

Q. What’s the thought going with four receivers? A lot of other teams go five at that position?
COACH PEDERSON: For us, too, it’s been our secondary and linebacker positions really, because you think about the guys that have been active for us – I mean, [LB] Kamu [Grugier-Hill] is a backup backer and [LB] Najee Goode has been a backup linebacker, but they are also core special teams players; [S] Terrence Brooks is a core special teams guy; [CB] C.J. [Smith]. It gives us depth at corner, but he’s also a special teams guy.

It’s just the way Coach Fipp [Eagles special teams coordinator Dave Fipp] has designed his [special] teams. We don’t necessarily use receivers as much on special teams. So, the thought there would be to have more defensive guys up than offensive receivers.

Q. I’m sure you’d be concerned about Nelson kind of going backwards, if he is playing, and maybe doesn’t have a good moment or something like that. Is that something that you’re kind of conscientious about, and is there a way to kind of guard or help him?
COACH PEDERSON: Yeah, I think about that stuff, I think about him personally and where he’s at, but at the same time, I’ve got to think of the whole football team, as well. I can’t really worry about the one guy. It’s all the other guys that are dressing and playing that is my concern. Again, going into this game, if he is definitely one of the four, then, you know, my confidence is 100 percent in him and he’ll be ready to go.

Q. With Carson, you’ve heard from everybody that it’s been beneficial, it’s always beneficial, to get him out there and playing. But could conversely, there have been some sort of benefit to having him in retrospect sit and watch for 10 or 11 games and at this point coming in?
COACH PEDERSON: As you know, that was my plan going into the season. The fact that he would have sat and watched, that’s one thing, you know and I think it’s good and I think he gets to learn, you know, he gets to learn the city, he gets to learn the fans. He learns you guys as the media and he gets to see from a veteran guy if [former Eagles QB] Sam [Bradford] was still the guy, then he gets to learn from him. But you know, looking back now, obviously this has been very valuable for him to get these reps and to lead this football team like he has. Just going to make, not only himself, but the team better down the road.

Q. On coin tosses this year, when you win, you defer. What’s the thought of deferring?
COACH PEDERSON: Well, the thought there is obviously if you do the percentages and the math, you get the ball typically at the end of the half and obviously you get it coming out of the locker room in the third quarter and it’s played into that. Like this last weekend, we were able to get three and then come out and of course we had the pick on the first drive. But I just think that if you can give your offense — one, your defense, you get out there, you get the three-and-out, especially last week at home, you get the crowd going, and you know, your hopes of getting a three-and-out, or at least stall their drive and either a punt or a turnover, field goal, whatever it might be, and then get your offense out. Sometimes, too, it settles your offense down just a little bit, especially with a young quarterback early, gets his nerves and jitters down just a little bit and gets him into the football game. That’s why a lot of the decisions, really, all of the decisions, have been to defer and wait till the second half.

Q. What concerns you the most about your offense over the last couple of weeks, especially?
COACH PEDERSON: Well, the biggest thing, or one of the things that kind of is concerning is obviously we’ve got to do better in the red zone. I think we’ve kicked too many field goals when we’ve been down there and field goals in general, which are okay and [K] Caleb [Sturgis] is having a great year doing that for us and scoring points. We’ve got to learn how to finish once we get down in that red zone area. Sometimes it’s always a touchdown, check-down mentality for us. Meaning the quarterback always has options to shoot the ball in the end zone, but let’s be smart and stay ahead of the chains, stay ahead of the down and distance. Running the ball down there becomes very effective. Teams, the tighter you get, will drop more guys into coverage, so your run game becomes a little more of an emphasis down in there. Obviously we’ve got to protect the football. We had the turnover last week to start the third quarter, and those are things, those are big things that you have to eliminate. Especially against good football teams and really coming out of the dressing room that way at halftime. I think the last couple of weeks, we’ve kind of stalled offensively having the ball in the third quarter, whether it be the turnover or a three-and-out, that you just can’t have. Those are things that I look at and try to put an emphasis on, not only during the week but in the next few weeks.

Q. On both sides of the ball, the team hasn’t played well from behind. You’re much better from ahead. How do you fix that and is that something you’ve noticed as well?
COACH PEDERSON: Yeah, we’re a team that probably right now, it’s harder for us to come-from-behind. We’ve been able to do it and kind of get close in games but we just haven’t been able to get over that hump and finish the games off. You know, it’s something that I look at. I try to manage the game in a way where, you know and that’s why time of possession for us has been in our favor for the most part all season and been able to control the ball, control the clock, score those touchdowns, like we were mentioning earlier, defense usually playing good getting off the field on third downs and just manage the game that way, keep it close. Keep it within at least a score or three points going into the fourth quarter and giving yourself a chance to win that game.

Q. As a play-caller, can you prioritize maybe getting, if Agholor does play, getting him the ball early and maybe trying to boost his confidence and kind of working from that?
COACH PEDERSON: Yeah, there’s always ways to do that, obviously play call, play design, to specifically get him going in the game could help, and you know, get him the ball early; it might just be a screen, just getting him the ball quick, letting him get kind of settled into the game. So those are all things that I consider, especially putting the openers together, the first 15s, let’s say, focusing on certain guys, want to get them touches early, and he’s definitely one of those guys.