Press Pass | Doug Pederson: "Proud of Our Guys For the Way They Competed..."

Doug Pederson (0:00)

Obviously, you know, after four weeks of a little bit of heartbreak, you know, it's the one thing I appreciate about our guys is they continue to roll up their sleeves, they continue to go to work. You know, they know the mistakes they've made, right, that we've been making.

But yet, they continue to work, and they continue to work hard during the week. And it showed today, you know, it might not have been just a pretty football game, but they never are, you know, and they're hard, they're gritty, they're tough. They're physical, all that kind of stuff, and just proud of our guys for the way they competed today.

SPEAKER_2 (0:40)

Doug, now it's a win-and-in scenario next week with the Titans. You just talk about how just the approach to that game and just another run, you know, like last year, got to win and get in.

Doug Pederson (0:52)

Yeah, coming down to week 18, I mean, that's just, I think our guys really thrive on these situations and that's okay, you know? It's a great opportunity for our organization, for our franchise, for our players, for our owner, you know, to be in this situation. And, you know, we got to go play another good football team on the road. And we'll enjoy this one, obviously, and prepare this week whenever we play.

SPEAKER_2 (1:21)

As a follow-up, could you talk about the performance of CJ Beathard today?

No pre-snap penalties by your guys. Pretty efficient, didn't cash in on some red zone opportunities, but other than that, no turnovers.

Doug Pederson (1:34)

Yeah, I mean, I thought CJ played smart, he played tough, came back in after being checked.

You know, he ran the offense, and, you know, credit the offensive line, you know, especially in the second half of really kind of taking over and helping out in the run game. And, you know, and I think, too, sometimes is when, you know, when your starter's out, your backup's in, I think the focus, the attention is a little bit, you know, the guys are a little more zeroed in. And we saw that today really from not only the offense, but I think the defense as well.

SPEAKER_3 (2:10)

On that, the defense turned in its best performance of the season. Is that just maybe a result of what they've gone through the last four weeks, not having maybe the success that they wanted?

Doug Pederson (2:21)

Yeah, it hasn't been what we wanted, obviously.

I thought today they responded well, obviously, to have the shutout and really play a solid football game. I'm sure there's gonna be some things to clean up as we look at this film, but the defense responded too and played a really good game today.

SPEAKER_4 (2:48)

Doug, first, congratulations on the win, happy new year. Also, even though you got stopped in the red zone a number of times, how important was it to get Brandon's confidence again, because he had all the field goals today?

Doug Pederson (3:02)

Yeah, I mean, that's part of it. Obviously, we would have loved to score the touchdowns in those situations, but too, to have Brandon out there and make those kicks like he did, that's good for his confidence moving forward.

And hats off to him, I mean, he's battled through a little adversity of his own here lately, and it was good to see him respond.

SPEAKER_4 (3:24)

And as a follow-up, as a long-time coach, assistant, or head coach, was there any kind of a story that you could have told these guys about when it gets tough, this is how we got through this, or anything like that, or just as usual?

Doug Pederson (3:40)

I keep everything sort of in the present and in the moment, and try to be more forward-thinking. But I still want to, we got to learn from the past, we got to learn from our mistakes, you know, and all of that. But there wasn't anything that I needed to really tell these guys or show these guys.

They just know, they just understand.

SPEAKER_5 (3:59)

Hey, Doug, we didn't get a chance to talk to you Friday. Trevor Shoulder, where is he on that, and is this a thing where you're not sure if he could play next week, or was this a game where you just wanted to kind of rest on to make sure everything was good for him?

Doug Pederson (4:12)

Yeah, there was really, for this game, there was really no chance of him getting out there.

We'll see how he is this week, obviously. If we play Saturday or Sunday, it all depends, but he'll do everything he can to try to get back out there if possible. If not, CJ will be ready to go and we'll have Matt ready.