Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson didn’t endear himself to his players when he shockingly decided to bench quarterback Jalen Hurts for backup Nate Sudfield early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s pivotal game against the Washington Football Team.
Apparently, players had to be restrained from going after the head coach after he made the questionable-at-best decision to bench Hurts.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane, two defensive players had to be restrained from going after Pederson, and Jason Kelce along with another starter on offense were asking Pederson why he was benching Hurts with the team down only 3 points at the time.
While Hurts was clearly upset with the call, he did not elude to any frustrations following the game.
“As a competitor, I play to win,” Hurts said. “You’ve just got to trust Coach with that. I know Coach had a plan to go about it the way he did and stuck to his plan.”
Pederson defended his odd decision on Monday.
“Nate has been here for four years, and I felt he deserved an opportunity to get some snaps,” Pederson said, according to ESPN’s Tim McManus. “Nate has been here for four years, and I felt he deserved an opportunity to get some snaps,” Pederson added.
