Joe Judge at the time made it very clear how he felt about the way Doug Pederson handled the fourth quarter of the Eagles’ game in Week 17 against Washington – a game with playoff implications for the Giants.
The judge was clearly irritated. Pederson replaced his starting quarterback, Jalen Hurts, with third striker Nate Sudfeld, a move that compromised the Eagles’ chances of victory and, as a result, ensured that the Giants were outside in the postseason.
The news that Pederson was fired by the Eagles on Monday certainly pleased many Giants fans. The judge won when asked about it on Tuesday morning at WFAN.
“I will never comment on someone else’s work,” said Judge. “This is their decision as an organization. I can say that I have enormous respect for Doug. He obviously achieved a lot in this league, he did a lot with that team. I’ve faced him twice, both games were a tough competition, each of us managed to succeed for our teams in one way or another throughout the year.
“I have a lot of respect for Doug, going against him several times, going back to 2017 when I was an assistant. He did a good job with that team. I will let the organization speak for the decisions, what they want to do from now on. ”
The Giants and Eagles shared the regular season series this year. Pederson led the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory over the Patriots after the 2017 season, with Judge, the coordinator of special teams, on the losing side.
After the Giants ended their season on 6-10, Judge said the Giants had 16 opportunities to make the playoffs and that they only had themselves to blame for missing the chance. He then pondered what Pederson did in the 20-14 loss to Washington, not to mention the name of Pederson or the Eagles.
“Disrespecting the effort everyone has made to make this season a success for the National Football League, ” said Judge,“ disrespecting the game by going outside and not competing for 60 minutes and doing everything they can to help these players win – we’ll never do that while I’m the head coach of the New York Giants. “
The judge said he saw Alabama win the National Championship on Monday night and sent coach Nick Saban a congratulatory text. Judge worked for Saban for three years in Alabama before going to the NFL.
Asked if he would call Saban to see if the Giants could include the sensational wide receiver DeVonta Smith in the draft, Judge laughed and said he was sure he would speak to his former boss at some point.
“Other than that, to be honest with you, the score was kind of excited, I ended up falling asleep before the end of the game, but I woke up with a lot of ‘Roll Tide’ messages,” said Judge. “They are definitely impressive. There were many good players on that field from both teams last night. ”