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Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson played quarterback in the NFL for 10 seasons -- seven of those as a backup for Hall of Fame QB Brett Favre on the Green Bay Packers.
The two have remained friends after their playing days, which made things awkward when Favre suggested in a recent ESPN interview that he believes Pederson and the Philadelphia Eagles made a mistake by keeping QB Carson Wentz and letting QB Nick Foles go in free agency in 2018.
Wentz was having a career year and was a serious league MVP candidate in 2017 before tearing his ACL in Week 14. Foles came in off the bench and led the Philadelphia Eagles the rest of the way -- all the way to a Super Bowl championship.
Foles opened the 2018 season as the starter while Wentz was still recovering from the knee injury. When Wentz was cleared, he took the starting QB job back. The Philadelphia Eagles went 9-7 but missed the playoffs, and Foles became a free agent. The team decided to keep Wentz, the former No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, and let Foles go and sign a lucrative contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Wentz signed a large contract extension with the Eagles.
After failing in Jacksonville, Foles moved on to the Chicago Bears, where he took the starting job from start Mitch Trubisky (another former No. 2 pick) earlier this season.
NFL: Philadelphia Eagles struggling this season with Wentz
With the Philadelphia Eagles struggling this season at 3-4-1 (yet somehow still leading the NFC East), Favre questioned if the team was right to choose Wentz over Foles.
"I actually thought that they should have kept Nick Foles rather than Carson Wentz just based off production and where they got to," Favre said. "They won a Super Bowl with Foles. And that was a little bit surprising. But they're obviously banking on his upside. How many more years do you let it linger before you stick with him or you cut bait? That's a question only they can answer."
Pederson has been asked about Favre's words and finally addressed it this week as the Philadelphia Eagles prepare to play the New York Giants in Week 10.
"I respect his opinion and his words. Those aren't mine," Pederson said. "Please don't put words in my mouth or we're going to have a problem. Carson's our guy, bottom line. End of story."
An NFL coach is going to publicly back his quarterback 99 percent of the time, especially in the middle of a season when the team is still in the race to make the playoffs.
Wentz, however, has not been good this season. The 27-year-old is posting career-lows in completion percentage (58.4), passer rating (73.2) and Quarterback Rating (49.1). He's thrown 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions halfway through the season, and his career-high in INT's so far is 14 in a season.
With the 12 interceptions plus four fumbles lost, Wentz leads the NFL in turnovers.
