Doug Pederson says he never used word “guarantee” but has confidence in team

[Rowdy]

Getty Images

Eagles coach Doug Pederson said on the radio Monday morning that the Eagles are “going down to Dallas, and our guys are gonna be ready to play, and we’re gonna win that football game, and when we do, we’re in first place in the NFC East.”

Apparently, Pederson sees it as something other than a guarantee.

“I never said that. I never said, ‘Guarantee a win.’ I would never do that,” Pederson said in his press conference Monday, via Jori Epstein of USA Today.

At the same time, Pederson said he has confidence in his team and wants to show them that. So he has no regrets saying what he said on 94.1 WIP.

“No, because it shows confidence in our football team,” Pederson said. “I promise you [Cowboys coach] Jason Garrett is going to say the same thing to his football team, that they’re going to win the football game as well.

“I’m not going to stand up here and go on record and say, ‘We’re going to try to win a game.’ . . . It just doesn’t show confidence, and I want to show confidence in our players.”

The Eagles and Cowboys are tied for first place in the NFC East with 3-3 records.

“Dallas is a great football team,” Pederson said. “They’re reeling like we are. They’re going to come out and play hard. They always have. They beat us twice last year. We’ve got a lot of things stacked against us going down there.

“As the head football coach, I’m going to show confidence in my football team because that’s what I have.”