A day after Malcolm Jenkins asserted that the Eagles didn't have enough fight in their 48-7 loss to the Saints (see story), Doug Pederson on Wednesday was asked to respond to those comments.
After all, just two days earlier, he praised his team's effort and said they battled to the end.
"I think, quite frankly, I talk about ownership quite a bit," Pederson said. "I think some of his comments are directed towards him. He'll own that. I think it kind of sends a message a little bit to everybody. We're all held to a higher standard. It starts with me.
"I leaned on our leadership of this football team quite a bit. Asked that if they see something, to respond. Listen, I don't think he's addressing it to one individual person. It's a whole group and we all need to kind of step our game up."
Yeah … somehow I don't think Jenkins was talking about himself here. Although, this is on the whole team.
But Pederson said he didn't view Jenkins' comments as finger-pointing. In fact, Pederson said that's one thing he loves about this team, that no one is quick to point fingers.
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But none of that changes the fact that shortly after the brutal loss, Pederson praised his players for battling and then two days later, Jenkins ripped his teammates for not having enough fight.
So did the Eagles show enough fight?
"Each man has to look at themselves in the mirror and they have to address that question individually," Pederson said. "So it's hard for me to stand up here and say, ‘Did you give your best effort on Sunday?' You have to answer that for yourself. I think that's where part of that comes from."
Yeah, we're back to the mirrors.
Just last week, Jason Kelce spoke up about the importance of accountability. And this week, Jenkins spoke up about the Eagles' demeanor.
So that's two team leaders in two weeks making critical comments about the Eagles.
"They're disappointed. We're all disappointed," Pederson said. "The season has not gone the way we anticipated coming out of training camp."
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