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Doug Pederson: Ryan Mathews' Fumbling Issues 'A Little Concerning'

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Ryan Mathews was the Eagles' most productive offensive player on Sunday.

As a team, the Eagles totaled just 239 yards and eight points offense en route to a defensive 21-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Mathews had 14 carries for 56 yards (4.0) and 27 yards receiving on just one target for a total of 83 total offensive yards.

However, for the second time in three games, Mathews fumbled late in the game. Luckily, the Eagles were ahead 21-3 and it did not change the outcome of the game, but it is concerning for the head coach.

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"Yeah, it is a little concerning," Doug Pederson told Angelo Cataldi and the 94WIP Morning Show of Mathews' fumbling issue during his weekly Monday morning call in. "He has to hang onto the ball in those situations and it's something we've gotta continue to work with him and talk to him about, and put him in maybe a better situation where he can protect the ball. And I get the situation, he was also trying to stay in bounds at the time. It was a four-minute situation and even in that situation, if you're that close to the sideline I'm OK if you just get out of bounds. That's the one thing we can't do is turn the ball over in a four-minute situation. We talk about it each week and we'll just continue to talk about it."

Listen: Doug Pederson

 

Pederson continues to be aggressive on offense, especially on fourth downs. On Sunday, the Eagles converted a two-point conversion in their first touchdown after a Vikings penalty and also converted a fourth down play before halftime. On the season, they're a league best 5-for-5 on fourth down.

"It's amazing how we can be upper-twenties on a third down conversion, but 100-percent on fourth down," Pederson joked. "It's just amazing to me. A lot of it just gut feeling. There is some calculations and there are some numbers that we look at each week, but a lot of it is gut and where we are on the field.

Related: The Eagles' Good, Bad & Ugly

"I knew right away, as soon as the flag went down, we were calling for the run [on the two-point conversion]. Statistically the numbers are in your favor, the percentages are in favor. On the fourth down play, again, feeling our offensive line a little bit they were doing a nice job in the run game. It was right before the half and I wanted to make sure we could get some points."

Filling in for Lane Johnson last week against the Redskins, Halapoulivaati Vaitai struggled and Pederson was questioned about sticking with the rookie right tackle against the Vikings, who entered the game with 19 sacks and 17 from the d-line. Pederson never wavered and stuck by Big V, who responded on Sunday with a bounce back performance as the Vikings did not record a single sack.

"He played much better," Pederson said of Big V's Week 7 performance. "He learned from the week before. I think he understands the speed of the game and this was a good defensive line, good pass rushers. Big V really settled in and did a nice job with his technique and his hands."

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