The Philadelphia Eagles had the entire NFL world perplexed on Sunday when they opted to bench quarterback Jalen Hurts in favor of Nate Sudfeld with the Washington Football Team up by just three points.
Many saw it as a blatant move by Doug Pederson to tank, which both eliminated the rival New York Giants from playoff contention and improved Philadelphia’s draft selection.
But judging from the recent comments by Eagles running back Miles Sanders, not everyone was exactly in favor of the decision to hand Washington the NFC East title at the expense of finishing a competitive NFL football game.
Sanders said in an interview Tuesday with the 94WIP Midday Show that “nobody” liked the decision:
“Man, if I’m being honest, nobody liked the decision, nobody. That’s all I can say really. I don’t know who was the main person behind that decision. All I know is that a lot of people on the team was confused.”
As Pederson made that move, the NBC broadcast with Cris Collinsworth was highly critical of Hurts’ benching. Sudfeld completed just 5 of 12 pass attempts for 32 yards with an interception and a fumble that led to a Washington field goal.
Pederson said after the game that he made that decision to give the Eagles a better chance to win, but clearly not even his own players bought that explanation.
You can listen to the full interview here.
