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Doug Pederson to tap trusted resource before Super Bowl: Brett Favre

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson will have his former Green Bay teammate, Brett Favre, speak to his team before Super Bowl LII.Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — In another lifetime, long before Doug Pederson was head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, he was a backup quarterback, playing three of his first four years in the NFL in Green Bay behind Brett Favre.

They won a championship together in 1996, when the Packers beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI.

Now that Pederson is back in the Super Bowl with the Eagles, he has reached out to Favre as Pederson looks to figure out a way to topple the Patriots again.

“I figured that since he was going to be in town — it’s not Saturday night, it’s Saturday morning at a team meeting — he’s going to stop by the hotel and talk to the guys for a few minutes Saturday morning,” Pederson said.

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“Any time you can hear from the best, his perspective, get a glimpse of that mind-set. He’s won that game, knows what that’s all about,” said offensive coordinator Frank Reich. “That gunslinger mentality fits our team. He was an aggressive player. Doug’s aggressive nature comes from playing with a guy like Brett Favre.”

A lot of the DNA that made the Eagles one of the top offenses in the NFL this season can be traced back to Pederson’s relationship with Favre.

The experience will be especially meaningful to quarterback Nick Foles, who was thrown into the starting job at the end of the season when Carson Wentz suffered a season-ending knee injury.

“He’s one of the greatest to ever play the game,” Foles said. “His style of play, his toughness, he is a true gunslinger, a rocket arm who could throw from any angle, off his back foot. He had the ability to just throw it wherever he wants. He’s been there. He’s won the big games. He played a lot, a lot of football.

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“Any time you have an opportunity to listen to someone like him speak, it’s huge. I can’t wait to listen to what wisdom and knowledge he gives us. I know everyone on our team can’t wait to hear him speak.”

Super birthday wish

In the middle of all the Super Bowl hoopla, Pederson celebrated his 50th birthday on Wednesday. He said all he wanted, of course, was a Super Bowl victory. Several players wished the same. Tight end Zach Ertz said said he’d also give Pederson a good Wednesday practice . . . After last year’s Super Bowl, LeGarrette Blount emphatically told Tom Brady and Bill Belichick they were the greatest. Now that he’s facing them, his feeling hasn’t changed. “I meant what I said,” he said. “Obviously you can look at Bill’s résumé and tell that he’s the greatest coach ever. And the same goes for Tom.”