Either the reports of intense friction between Doug Pederson and Carson Wentz weren’t true at all, or Pederson deserves an Oscar.
When the Indianapolis Colts traded for the former No. 2 overall pick in a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, it had gotten to that point because Wentz was benched in favor of Jalen Hurts.
Why did that happen?
Well, that was Pederson’s call, which was the icing on the cake of chaos during the 2020 season in Philadelphia.
Whomever was at fault, it doesn’t really matter, because it’s all over, and we can safely trace it all back to Frank Reich leaving his post as offensive coordinator with the Eagles to become the next head coach of the Colts.
Now that the two are reunited and Pederson has been fired from his job in Philly, the former Eagles head coach talked about the reported tension between him and his quarterback as well as the trade that sent him to Indy.
https://twitter.com/JClarkNBCS/status/1371795930668748800?s=20
Here’s what Pederson told NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark:
"“I do believe there’s a little misnomer out there that Carson and I were on bad terms, and I’ve never felt that way. I’ve always felt like I was going to do the right thing for the Philadelphia Eagles, but I understand what he was feeling and what he was going through. There was frustration there. I still have a lot of respect [for Carson], and we drafted him five years ago to be the guy. I’m excited to see what he does with the Colts now. He has a fresh start too. I think that’s something players go through in their careers … it’s just another opportunity and I know that’s what he’s looking forward to. I’m excited to watch his career moving forward.”"
Pederson didn’t exactly get into specifics, but he sounded fairly confident in what he was saying. It’s not like he was stumbling over his words to come up with some manufactured response.
Doug Pederson on Carson Wentz, via @JClarkNBCS: “I do believe that there’s a little misnomer out there that Carson and I were on such bad terms, and I’ve never felt that way." More from John's podcast here: https://t.co/TJCAlLyLS0
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) March 16, 2021
In the end, Pederson was either trying to save his own job by benching Wentz or listening to the front office. And in either instance, you’d imagine that would’ve been made clear to the QB, which would mean there couldn’t be that much of a reason for Wentz to hold every bit of animosity towards Pederson.
Then again, we’ll never know. But we can expect to hear more from Pederson as Wentz begins his new journey with the Colts, and we’re sure once the QB faces the media in Indy, he’ll get a question about his former head coach and provide us with another answer to work with.
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