Pederson: We’re Going to Continue the Conversations’

The possibility of sitting out the 2020 opener in two weeks has come up from various teams around the NFL, as teams look to do more in the fight against social injustice.

"It's obviously something that is real," explained Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. "It hits all of us. It hits everybody a little bit differently, but at the same time, I'm focused on my players and the well-being of my players, and quite frankly, there's times when sports get put to the side because of some of these issues."

While nothing has been decided according to Pederson, there has been ongoing discussions inside the Eagles locker room about what the team can do to raise awareness. 

"It's the ongoing conversation that we're going to have here," Pederson said. "We began dialogue last week. As a leader, as the coach of these guys, it's my job to listen, to help facilitate, to support. And that's where we are right now."

Players across all professional sports this week have pushed to have games postponed this week, with NBA, NHL, MLS, WNBA and some MLB games postponed on Thursday and Friday, and set to return this weekend.

"A lot of our players, a lot of our Black players are hurting from the standpoint of this is close to home for many of them," Pederson admitted. "So for me, it's about understanding, it's about learning, it's about gaining knowledge, and then being able to support our guys."

The Eagles organization is working to create an action plan, and while they don't have a specific one in place yet, Pederson said they have an idea about what they want to do to get their message across as a organization.

“I do have, I think, an idea of what the players, what the team, organization would like to do," Pederson stated. "I'm going to have a conversation today with a few of the representatives of the football team, some of the players, typically my player committee as we make final decisions on what we want to do."