If Doug Pederson thinks the Eagles gain some kind of competitive advantage by keeping his starting quarterback a mystery, Falcons coach Dan Quinn is here to tell him otherwise.
And while Pederson becomes increasingly combative over questions as to whether Carson Wentz or Nick Foles will get the call Week 1, Quinn sounds loose, showing a sense of humor about the challenge that awaits his team on Thursday.
"I hear you had some quarterback questions today, so Matt Ryan will be our quarterback," Quinn said in a conference call with members of the Philadelphia media Sunday.
Quinn's quip came hours after Pederson refused to answer nine questions about his opening day starter - and four more regarding which reporter or reporters were guilty of putting words in his mouth.
Eventually, Pederson admitted he's being cagey in part to conceal the news from the Falcons, the Eagles' first opponent.
"Yeah, a little bit," Pederson said during the confrontational exchange. "[We are] trying to win a football game. I don't want to put my game plan out there for everybody to see it and read it and teams can scheme. It just doesn't make a lot of sense."
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But from one NFL coach to another, it might not mean a world of difference.
"You know what, it's a question I've been asked this week down our way as well, so I fully get that," Quinn said. "You know what we're going to do? We're going to prepare for the offense. Both guys have shown they have full command of everything.
"When you start the first game of the season, you have to go back through [last] season, so what I saw was two guys who were running it at a high level. Are there small tweaks that could take place? Yeah, but by and large I thought both were doing a good job of handling the whole thing.
"More than anything, that's out of our control, so we're just going to do our best to get our preparation right and really make the preparation about us."
Quinn acknowledged there are circumstances when a decision between two quarterbacks could impact or even dictate the opposing defense's game plan, using a pair of Eagles legends as an example.
He was also quick to point out this is not the situation in 2018.
"I think it depends like if the style was so drastically different," Quinn said. "In other words, if there was one that scrambled all over the place.
"Probably if you were back in the day having this conversation between [Ron Jaworski] and [Randall Cunnigham], we might have that discussion, but these two guys are really equipped to run it in a similar fashion, so to me in this instance it's not.
"I recognize, hey, it's all part of gamesmanship and not wanting to tip, but all we can do is control what we can, and that's getting ready for the offense. Whoever they put out there, including if it happens to be either, we've got to be prepared and ready to rock."
Of course, even if the differences between Wentz and Foles are only subtle - which is certainly debatable - knowing who will play in advance could still prove helpful to the Falcons. Pederson isn't wrong for wanting to keep the Eagles' opponent in the dark.
Pederson did reveal Wentz has not yet been cleared for contact by doctors, though that can obviously change between now and Thursday.
Whether Quinn or the Falcons seem worried about it or not, Pederson is determined to delay any announcement for as long as possible.
