McMullen: ‘Salty Doug’ Needs Some Perspective

PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) - We all have our days.

Just this morning, I was woken up by the sounds of my wife informing me that the back door was unlocked all night. In a rare moment of restraint, instead of lobbing that passive aggression back in the other direction, I went with "good morning dear" which seemed to diffuse the situation.

What I wanted to do was far different, probably starting a dissertation that our suburban enclave is hardly overrun by crime and our backyard is protected by secure gates and motion lights so it's not exactly like we survived 13 hours in Benghazi after my unforgivable sin.

And then there is the fact that in the worst-case scenario if this imaginary intruder is going to take me, doing it so I don't have to watch the fourth preseason game against the Jets on Thursday is the most humane way possible.

Through all this meaningless morning nonsense, however, my ever faithful companion Isabella was there to greet me with a wag of her tail and a kiss on the cheek.

Life could always be worse.

Doug Pederson shouldn't need that lesson less than seven months after he brought the first Super Bowl championship in franchise history back to Philadelphia and before his team even takes the field for the first real game of its title defense.

Yet, somehow the Eagles head coach is stressed out and needs some perspective.

Some of his issues are self-inflicted like promoting his book when the time constraints are ramping up and holding back veteran players ready to go in the preseason, something which has made his offense look like a modern version of the Keystone Cops. Furthermore, if you're going to do the latter, understand the uneducated are going to overreact when things go poorly.

Other issues are out of the coach's control like losing his two top lieutenants to promotions, the health of his star quarterback Carson Wentz, and Nick Foles' regression toward the mean.

In those instances, a simple Serenity Prayer will work wonders,

Familiarity breeds contempt, though, so Pederson, typically one of the more accommodating head coaches in the NFL, took out his saltiness on us, the media who dared to ask him for an update on the QB1 of the Super Bowl champions 11 days before the season opener.

Who could have seen that coming?

The players, meanwhile, who have looked like the very definition of a Super Bowl hangover in the preseason got it a different way as Pederson shifted the scheduled practice session from shells to full pads in the August heat.

One veteran player boiled the whole day down to sleep and Pederson not getting enough of it.

Whatever the causal connection was, instead of lashing out the next time Pederson is feeling a little surly maybe he should just open up his desk drawer and eye his contract extension or walk down to the lobby of the NovaCare Complex to gaze at the Lombardi Trophy.

Things could always be worse Coach.

-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen