While the excitement for the start of the NFL regular season is high, there’s a void in the NFL world right now as all the teams went through the toughest part of the preseason as Patrick Mahomes called it. But this time this process was the hardest for Josh Pederson. Each league team must cut their rosters short to 53 before the regular season starts. No team is allowed to have more players than that which has made things difficult for Josh.
Josh Pederson is the tight end of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was drafted by the team in July. Before that, he played with multiple teams including, the 49ers, Chiefs, and Saints. This season, he had to play with the Jaguars which seems impossible now.
Who is TE Josh Pederson?
Josh Pederson is an American football tight end who played college football at Louisiana-Monroe. The 25-year-old also played for the USFL for one year. Although he played with the 49ers, Saints, and Chiefs, he never got the chance to play in the regular season.
In this offseason, he was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars having a hope that this time he might play in the regular season. The interesting fact was that the head coach of the Jaguars Doug Pederson is his father.
Doug Pederson, the head coach of the Jaguars and the father of the tight end is considered one of the talented head coaches of the team. In 2022, Pederson became the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars and achieved their first division title and playoff victory since 2017.
The fact that Josh’s father, the very talented coach, was going to train him increased the expectations for the tight end. However, those expectations have died down even before the regular season started.
Jaguars HC drops his own son from NFL roster
While everyone expected the Jaguars HC to train his son Josh Pederson and help him reach the height of success, the HC dropped his own son from the NFL roster.
Update: #Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson cut his own son, Josh.
Josh, listed at Tight End on the team and he was let go during the final 53-man cutdowns.
Tough business…https://t.co/bjoFVxxjqh pic.twitter.com/kafxDzmh5E
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 29, 2023
This Tuesday was the last date for every team to cut down their rosters and only leave 53 players. The teams keep those players who are considered the best. Despite his efforts, the tight end did not record a catch in three preseason games with the Jaguars.
Given the competition and depth chart, it was unlikely that he would make the 53-man roster. So, the coach of the team made a fair decision and removed him from his team even though he was his son.
When Josh joined the team he was very excited to play under the guidance of his father. The tight end expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be coached by his father.
“This is super humbling, you know?” Josh Pederson said. “The position where I’m at right now, there’s never a day I don’t think about it. I’m just super grateful the fact that he’s coaching me and I’m getting to learn from his staff.”
He highlighted the special nature of learning from his father’s perspective as a head coach.
“It’s something special… I’ve sat on the sideline for the last, however many years he’s been a head coach, just as his son. And then to learn and he him through that lens is just a little bit more special.”
But unfortunately, Josh couldn’t continue this beautiful journey and the heartwarming experience of learning from his father. Doug Pederson, as the head coach of the Jaguars, had to make the difficult decision to cut his own son Josh Pederson from the team’s roster.
While it might be heartbreaking for the tight end to get rejected by his own father, the incident shows the professionalism of the Jaguars HC. He has fairly picked the best players for the roster of Jaguars so the team can perform well in the regular season.
