PHILADELPHIA — It took less than 48 hours for an Eagles player to publicly question the team’s approach to its season finale.
The Eagles have drawn the ire of the football world after pulling quarterback Jalen Hurts in favor of Nate Sudfeld during their 20-14 loss to the Washington Football Team last Sunday. Hurts came out in a three-point game, and the move was perceived by many as an effort to lose the game in order to secure a higher draft pick.
Running back Miles Sanders was among those disappointed in the decision.
“If I’m being honest, nobody liked the decision. Nobody. That’s all I can say,” Sanders said during an appearance on 94.1 WIP Tuesday. “I don’t know who was the main person behind that decision, but all I know is a lot of people on the team were confused.”
Sanders wasn’t alone. The former Penn State standout’s comments came one day after The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that some players and coaches were shocked to see Sudfeld go in for Hurts. Some were angry, with two defensive players having to be held back from confronting Pederson about the decision. Jason Kelce and another offensive starter also approached Pederson to ask why he made the change.
Shortly after Sanders’ radio hit, fourth-round rookie K’Von Wallace tweeted in objection to tanking. Wallace, a former Clemson defensive back, started three games this season, including the season finale against Washington.
Hurts, who also hails from a high-caliber college program that hardly ever loses and touts strong culture, said after the game that he didn’t question Pederson’s decision.
“As a competitor, I play to win,” he said. “You have to trust [his plan].”
It’s worth noting Pederson defended his decision to bench Hurts in favor of Sudfeld both after the game Sunday night and again Monday morning. The coach, who is expected to return next year after a catastrophic 4-11-1 season, gave two different explanations.
On Sunday night, Pederson said Sudfeld earned some playing time. The 27-year-old has been the Eagles’ third-string quarterback each of the last three seasons and hadn’t played in a regular-season game since 2018.
“Nate has obviously been here for four years and I felt that he deserved an opportunity to get some snaps,” Pederson said. “Listen, if there’s anyone out there that thinks that I’m not trying to win the game ... all our top guys are still on the field at the end. So, we were going to win the game.”
The following morning, Pederson said he made the change because the offense was stagnant.
“It’s been a multitude of issues that we’ve had, and again, last night in that game, we were in a situation where we failed to score as an offense,” he said. “We failed to score there at the end of the third quarter. We were struggling just a little bit to move the ball.”
