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PHILADELPHIA – Eagles center Jason Kelce admitted he was “a little surprised” by the decision to withdraw quarterback Jalen Hurts in favor of Nate Sudfeld in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against Washington and that he approached Coach Doug Pederson about the move, but said the discussion was not confrontational.
“I went to Doug and asked him if he was eliminating Hurts, he said, ‘Yeah, I think Nate won the right to play,’” Kelce wrote in an Instagram post Wednesday. “I said, ‘Is everyone staying inside?’ He said, ‘Absolutely.’ “
“At no time has anything from me or anyone else been confrontational,” Kelce added. “We all knew before the game started that Sudfeld had been told to be ready to play, and that Doug wanted to see what he could do in a game situation. We were all excited the week before for Nate. , a guy who has been with us for 4 years to have the opportunity in a real game to show the world what he can do. We all have complete faith in Nate as a player, there’s a reason he’s been here for so long, and a reason the team brought him in and that’s because we feel like that Nate is a guy we can win with. “
The conversation Kelce addressed appears to be her response to a Philadelphia Inquirer report that the players were “shocked and outraged” by Pederson’s decision to go to Sudfeld.
What surprised Kelce and the rest of the team was the timing. The Eagles lost three points when Sudfeld replaced Hurts early in the fourth quarter, and the next two possessions resulted in turnovers.
While the game had no playoff implications for the Eagles, the competitive juice was flowing – even for players who weren’t able to participate.
“If I’m being honest, nobody liked the decision. Nobody. That’s all I can say,” running back Miles Sanders, one of nine Eagles excluded for injury for the injury, said Tuesday. match. “I don’t know who the main person was behind this decision, but all I know is a lot of the team were confused.”
Defensive end Brandon Graham believes the confusion was created by the circumstances. Due to NFL COVID-19 protocols, injured players are not allowed on the sideline and did not hear when Pederson told the team that some players who normally don’t have the opportunity should be ready to play.
Hurts’ move to Sudfeld in a contested game that decided the winner of the NFC East sparked a backlash across the league, including from New York Giants coach Joe Judge, who strongly suggested that Philadelphia’s actions were disrespectful to the game. The Giants reportedly won the NFC East title with an Eagles victory over Washington.
Graham handed the blame to the Giants, suggesting they should have run their own business instead of relying on a loss in Washington to stamp their ticket to the playoffs.
“Some people just didn’t like the decision because they want to see Hurts in there, but at the end of the day that game meant nothing to us. We were still coming home, so why not see who else got you out? ”Graham said Wednesday at 94.1 WIP. “And if people have a problem with that, don’t put yourself in that position, the Giants. Don’t put yourself in that position, win your game.”
With the loss, the Eagles got the sixth pick overall in the April NFL Draft. A victory against Washington would have moved them to ninth place overall.
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