Doug Pederson 'disappointed' by Nelson Agholor's drop comments
PHILADELPHIA -- Eagles coach Doug Pederson said Monday that he is disappointed by receiver Nelson Agholor's dismissive comments about his drop in Sunday's night's29-23 overtime loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Eagles receivers tied a season high with four drops in the loss, and Agholor's drop was costly. He failed to hold on to a third-down Carson Wentz pass early in the contest that would have given the Eagles a first-and-goal. Instead, they had to settle for a Caleb Sturgis field goal.
"I don't give a damn, man, that [stuff] is nothing," Agholor said when asked about the drops and whether plays were left on the field.
"You just have to make the next one. Everybody runs routes. Sometimes they are contested. Sometimes you drop them. If you make as many as you possibly can that come your way, you'll put yourself in a good position. No one is perfect. I don't look at no drops, or that type of [stuff]. I'm tired of hearing that [stuff]. It's just stupid.
"We play football. I dropped the first one. I didn't drop one after that. What does it matter? Because if we lose, then it's like we'll place blame on this person did this. No! As a team, we have a responsibility to win football games, and I get it, some plays could have helped. But there are still four quarters of football to be played, and we got to win. I don't got time for that no more. I got time to win football games, only. No statistics. No 'Who did this?' Win, that's all that matters. That's what coach staff cares about. That's what I care about. That's what we all care about -- winning football games."
Pederson addressed those comments at his day-after news conference.
"We're disappointed, I'm disappointed in the type of comments," Pederson said. "I think each individual has to be responsible for their own job, obviously. We've got to make good, smart choices. Everybody is mad and disappointed and angry after tough losses like we just came through, and cooler heads prevail. We just have to bite our lip sometimes and just suck it up and get to work. And that's what we've got to do this week."
Agholor finished the game with three catches for 25 yards. He has 216 receiving yards on the season, which ranks 111th in the NFL. It's been an underwhelming start to the 2016 season for the former first-round pick out of USC. The same can be said for the wide receiver group as a whole. Jordan Matthews ranks 36th in receiving through eight weeks (36 catches, 419 yards), but no other Eagles player is in the top 100.
It appears the Eagles could use reinforcements, and they have until 4 p.m. Tuesday to make a trade to bolster the position.
"As far as I know, we're not making any moves," Pederson said. "The guys we have are the guys we have. We're going to continue to work and get better at that position."
Which includes holding on to the football more consistently.
"Any time you drop the ball is a problem," the head coach said. "Everybody has to do their job. I talk about it every week with the team: You have to do your job, do your assignment, no excuses, and you have to own up to them."
