PHILADELPHIA – Andy Reid isn’t quitting his job.
The Philadelphia Eagles have sunk so low that people are wondering if Reid will simply step down instead of waiting to be fired.
“I think that’d be a cop-out,” Reid said Monday when asked about resigning. “That’s not how I see things. That’s not the way I’m wired. We’re going to keep battling and do it as a team. I’m not going to tell the guys one thing and then do the other.”
As the losses pile up and get worse each week, Reid has run out of explanations. The Eagles (3-7) have dropped six in a row. Even worse, they’re no longer competitive.
A 31-6 whipping by the Washington Redskins wasn’t as close as the 25-point difference indicated. The Eagles never had a chance Sunday against a team that also entered with a 3-6 record.
After a 3-1 start, the Eagles have completely fallen apart. It started with a 2-point loss at Pittsburgh on Oct. 7. A 3-point overtime loss to Detroit followed. That was the closest Philadelphia would come to victory. The margins in the next three defeats were 13, 15 and 15. Then came the debacle at Washington.
Surely, the Eagles have hit rock bottom.
“Obviously that’s not good enough the way that we’re playing,” Reid said. “I take full responsibility for that. I know we’re letting the fans down and the city down. I completely understand that. I completely understand how they feel on this. I feel it from the football team, our coaches and players. There are no excuses for it.”
Reid’s future is not even a question anymore. Unless the Eagles run the table, win the division and go deep in the playoffs, it’s almost certain Reid won’t be back for a 15th season in Philadelphia. Owner Jeffrey Lurie already said that another 8-8 season would be “unacceptable.” He can’t be pleased with the current mess.
“He’s a competitive guy and nobody wants to win more than Jeffrey,” Reid said. “I would tell you he’s disappointed. I would tell you rightly so. He feels the same way we do that we’re letting people down in this city and so on. So, that’s what I can tell you.”
Reid’s biggest mistake against the Redskins didn’t involve any playcalling or the starting lineup. Rather, it was his decision to leave LeSean McCoy on the field late in the fourth quarter in a lopsided game.
McCoy, who hasn’t played up to his All-Pro form of last year, suffered a concussion on a hard hit after a 7-yard run. He’s day to day and his status for next Monday night’s game against Carolina is uncertain.
“These kids want to play,” Reid said, defending why he left McCoy in the game. “There are two sides of this. There’s the side that you ask me, ‘Did you feel like they quit?’ Well, no these guys want to play, they want to win the game, they want to get better, they want to show that they’re all in, and so there’s a fine line there. And then, as coaches, you want to make sure the guys know that you’re all in, too.
“With that, I don’t regret it.”
McCoy’s concussion is considered in Stage 1, according to Reid. He added that he doesn’t think it’s as severe as the one that forced quarterback Michael Vick to miss Sunday’s game.
“It didn’t seem to be quite as bad just from where he was after the game and his response,” Reid said. “He took a good lick there and we’ve got to make sure we go through the protocol. We’ll see how things go.”
Reid said Vick is improving but remains at Stage 1. Vick would start when he’s healthy to play. Rookie Nick Foles, making his first career start, struggled vs. a defense that came in ranked 30th against the pass. Foles was 21 of 46 for 204 yards and threw two interceptions.
A makeshift offensive line that featured one starter signed six days earlier didn’t help Foles much. He was sacked four times and faced pressure throughout the game.
“I thought there were some good things that he did and then there are some things that he can definitely learn from,” Reid said. “But he made a couple of nice throws, tight throws early that I thought were some pretty good plays. Again, there are some things that he can work on. He’s a young guy; a rookie, so there were a couple of rookie mistakes, but there were some positive things too.”
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NOTES: The Eagles signed G Julian Vandervelde and LB Nate Stupar to the practice squad and released LB Frank Trotter and S Phillip Thomas. ... The Monday night matchup vs. the Panthers (2-8) features the teams with the two worst records in the NFC.
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Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobMaaddi
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