Philadelphia Eagles Roundup: Doug Pederson finally reveals a frustration

His positive nature has been one of the areas he’s been most criticized for throughout a rough season, but we may have found the one thing that can send Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson over the edge.

Throughout the 2019 season, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson has maintained a positive outlook, especially when it comes to matters that have made this team’s fans and the Philly media feel like tearing their own insides out.

We’ve finally found something that can push his buttons though. Don’t try and hide any head injuries from the medical team.

Right around midweek, Kamu Grugier-Hill popped up on the team’s injury report, seemingly out of nowhere. It was revealed that he had a concussion no one else seemed to be made aware of. You know how seriously head and brain injuries are taken in the NFL. You can see how this might cause a problem. On the Friday leading up to Week 15’s game with the Washington Redskins, the coach met with the Philly media, and for the first time all season, at least publicly, he wasn’t his usual positive self.

"We know how important head and neck injuries are to our league and to just the person, the player himself, the well-being of the player, and so from that standpoint, to have this come back like this and for him to admit what he has said and done is very disappointing for me as a head coach."

Philly’s head ball coach continued.

"I take football aside. I say, ‘hey, this is a well-being issue.’ Had he maybe got hit again in that game, who knows what could have happened. Well,” he said, “I think what’s happened has happened… Maybe (in my playing days), maybe you could, but now, there’s too many things in place, too many protocols, too many standards that we, as coaches and as players, were trying to protect our game and the well being of every player… It’s a little bit of a selfish act to take it upon yourself and make that decision when he could have gotten checked out right away."

The Coach is right on this one. Grugier-Hill’s decision to lie about his injury and play on speaks to the gladiator mentality of the pro athlete, but it also puts him in danger. Brain injuries are different from muscle or bone injuries and have to be evaluated differently.

Maybe calling the Flyin’ Hawaiian’ selfish is a stretch. Though it was the wrong decision to play on (and also dangerous), he put the needs of his team over his own. He put winning over his health, so he isn’t selfish, but no one would have blamed him if he had been. Hopefully, his error will dissuade others from attempting to do the same thing