Miles Sanders: Eagles players took issue with benching of Jalen Hurts

Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Philadelphia Eagles running back Miles Sanders revealed that "nobody" on the team agreed with the decision to bench rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts in favor of Nate Sudfeld during Sunday's game against the Washington Football Team.

"If I'm being honest, nobody liked the decision. Nobody. That's all I can say," Sanders said during a radio appearance on 94.1 WIP on Tuesday. "I don't know who was the main person behind that decision, but all I know is a lot of people on the team were confused."

With the Eagles trailing Washington by three points in the fourth quarter Sunday night, Philadelphia head coach Doug Pederson opted to insert Sudfeld into the game. The move, which helped decide the winner of the NFC East, caught some Eagles players by surprise and sparked outrage throughout the league.

New York Giants head coach Joe Judge, who never referenced the Eagles or Pederson, strongly suggested the Eagles' actions were disrespectful to the game and the league. The Giants would have won the NFC East title with an Eagles win over the Football Team.

"There's a number of sacrifices that have been made by all the players and coaches in this league. There are a number of sacrifices that come along as well with the family members of the people connected to them," Judge said Monday.

"To disrespect the effort that everyone put forward to make this season a success for the National Football League, to disrespect the game by going out there and not competing for 60 minutes and doing everything you can to help those players win, we will never do that as long as I'm the head coach of the New York Giants."

The Eagles ultimately suffered a 20-14 loss to Washington, eliminating the Giants from postseason contention. Following the game, Pederson said he was "coaching to win" and wasn't tanking for a better draft pick.

With the loss, the Eagles locked up the No. 6 overall pick in April's NFL Draft. If Philadelphia beat Washington, it would have fallen to ninth overall in the draft.