Doug Pederson says ‘fatigue’ played a part in the the lack of carries for Miles Sanders vs. the Bengals

The fallout from the Eagles 23-23 tie with the Bengals continues on Monday and one of the biggest questions from Sunday’s game was the lack of rushing attempts for star running back Miles Sanders in the first half.

Sanders averaged eight yards per carry in the first half, but only carried the ball as a runner two times in the second half. Sanders had six carries for 41 yards in the first quarter against the Bengals but didn’t do much as a ball carrier in the second half. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson blamed that on “fatigue”.

“Not to make excuses or whatever, but there was a little fatigue that set in and Miles alluded to that,” Pederson said. “We had to be cautious late in the game. There are times where you just make the decision to maybe shift gears and go a little different direction, and that’s what we did yesterday.”

Sanders returned from a month-long hamstring injury in Week 2 and seems to be still getting adjusted after basically no training camp.

Sanders finished with 18 carries for 95 yards and with the potential to run the ball down the Bengals throat, Pederson and the Eagles let Wentz throw the ball 47 times on the afternoon.