Head coach Doug Pederson has raised eyebrows for the way he handled the sideline scuffle between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans after linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair knocked Trevor Lawrence out. A couple days later, Pederson defended his approach to the situation and why he responded the way he did.
The head coach met with the local media ahead of Week 14 and said that he had no comments in regards to the three-game suspension that the NFL laid on Al-Shaair after laying a dirty hit on Lawrence that forced him to leave with a concussion.
"It's obviously probably not my place to speak necessarily on the punishment," Pederson responded when asked what his thoughts are on the suspension the Texans linebacker got. "I think that that's the league on that."
If he wanted to, Pederson could most definitely weigh in on the situation. Houston general manager Nick Caserio certainly did, mincing no words when he called the suspension [expletive]. Similarly, head coach DeMeco Ryans stood behind his player, noting that he did nothing wrong and going as far as saying that if someone deserves scorn, it's the Jaguars sideline for overreacting.
All things considered, that's an odd thing to say. After all, Al-Shaair led with his elbow when attempting to tackle Lawrence. Rightly, several players stuck up for his quarterback, but in the end, only the Houston linebacker, and cornerback Jarrian Jones were ejected for their roles. Below is Pederson's full exchange with the press corps.
Doug Pederson could have done more after the scuffle on the Jaguars sideline
Instead of having his player's back, Doug Pederson scolded Jarrian Jones publicly, pointing out that he has to be the better person. The puzzling reaction to the scuffle and the comments in the aftermath raised concerns from former Jaguars players Austen Lane and safety Bucky Brooks.
Both Lane and Brooks — contrary to what Ryans said— argued that Jacksonville underreacted when seeing their quarterback go down, and opposing teams will know moving forward that they can bully them without the fear of retaliation. When asked about the former players' comments, Pederson said he didn't know what they were talking about but he isn't coaching players to hurt opponents.
I don't know what that means. Listen. It's a hard
, physical, tough game to play. Okay? You've got to be a tough, physical individual to play the sport. I don't care what position and to play football. We're not out to hurt anybody. We're not out to ruin careers. We're out to win a football game and play hard within the rules. That's our that's our job, and that's how we coach it, and that's how we play it. You know, do we take it to the line? Yeah, we take it to the line," Pederson said.
"But more often than not, these games come down to just a couple of plays and it was, again, the case on Sunday. We didn't make enough plays to really help our team win. I mean, if they're asking or suggesting that we go after someone, we're not doing that flat out. That's not how I coach. It's not how I'm gonna coach these teams, these players, we're just going to go out and do our jobs. Play hard, play fast, play physical within the rules."
The thing is that nobody is telling Pederson to hurt opposing players. What Lane and Brooks are saying is that the team, which takes on its head coach, should've been more aggressive when defending their quarterback.
Pederson himself singled Jones out. He's since said that the rookie corner won't be seeing any internal fines, but it would've been great to see him infuriated when Lawrence got hurt and demanding accountability from Ryans, Al-Shaair, and the Texans instead of hiding behind the shield.
It's understandable that it isn't in Pederson's nature to clap back, but the scuffle in Week 13 certainly called for it. The truth is that his reaction or lack thereof in the aftermath of the hit and the brawl has left much to be desired and could ultimately play a role in his eventual dismissal.
The bottom line is that observers around the league aren't pleased with Doug Pederson's handling of the situation, and neither should Jacksonville Jaguars owner d