Les Bowen: Eagles' Lurie doesn't hear what we do

THE MOST extraordinary part of Jeffrey Lurie's news conference Tuesday might not have been the way the chairman built an excellent case for firing his coach and then didn't. After all, most of us went in figuring Andy Reid wasn't getting axed; we just weren't prepared for all the onstage rending of the Lurie garments.

More surprising? Deep into the back-and-forth at the NovaCare auditorium, Lurie was asked about Reid's public image, the way Reid presents himself and represents the organization. Lurie, really working his fan-empathy mode, allowed that this, in fact, bothered him. It was revelatory to hear anyone above the coach in the Eagles' hierarchy voice such a notion.

Lurie talked about how Reid protects his players, puts the top priority on that, instead of on explaining things to the public.

"To describe it as arrogant is completely wrong; it's protective, and there's a difference, how you interpret protectiveness," Lurie said. "You can convert it to arrogance if you misjudge it. There's no arrogance in this man. One of the analyses I do when I meet with Andy for multiple times in the last month - and I do it every year - is how humble he is and how self-critical he is . . . So you're dealing with a completely nonarrogant man who blames himself for a lot of the troubles with the team, but, at the same time, can openly talk to me about each player and each's strengths and weaknesses that you can't talk to the press about . . . I sometimes do feel bad as an organization that that gets presented . . . as arrogant, because I don't think you're ever going to meet a head coach who's any less arrogant than Andy Reid."

Of course, the follow-up involved what in the world can be done about this alleged miscommunication. Lurie indicated that the coach's dealings with the media were part of their postseason meeting.

"I did [speak with Reid about that]. I think that's an area where Andy can probably learn from some of those coaches that do protect their players [without being uncommunicative]," Lurie said. "But it's not the easiest thing to do when a team is 8-8 and expected to be deep into the playoffs. I think it's an easy thing for a coach that's very protective of his players to be attacked and criticized, and you become more defensive as that process goes on, you're only human.

"So, yes, I think there is an opportunity, and maybe you all can be helpful, and I know I . . . would love it if he could create that balance of being very protective of his players . . . and at the same time maybe find ways to communicate in small groups or interviews or something like that."

I understood what Lurie meant, without buying it completely. Somehow, in 10 seasons covering the Eagles, I have become a frequent Andy foil at his news conferences, a guy especially likely to get a nonresponsive or smart-alecky answer. (In a related development, I also am a guy especially likely to ask a smart-alecky question.) On TV or on a webcam, or whatever, this looks a little different from how it usually feels. I was really surprised, several years back, when people started approaching me on the street, congratulating me for "sticking it to" Reid or just being willing to take on the coach. I don't really see myself that way. I try to ask the questions I think most need answering. If somebody else asks those questions, I am comfortable just sitting there and tweeting. Some reporters hunger to be seen as the guy asking the tough question. I really don't.

More to the point, Reid and I have a cordial relationship away from the podium. Over the years, I have dealt with coaches who openly despised me way more than this guy. Our interactions just weren't televised as much. Yes, it frustrates me that Reid has no interest in helping me or you understand what is going on, telling us why something worked or didn't work. Lots of times, though, I think what Lurie said is right - it isn't often arrogance. Lack of deftness, sometimes. Paranoia, sometimes, about giving information the next week's opponent might find useful. Protectiveness of his players is in there. And stubbornness, big-time.

I really don't think Reid walks around thinking he is smarter than everyone. I think he has a pretty realistic view of his own inadequacies. He just sees no upside in parading them out in public. (Which is where he is wrong. I think a guy who emotes a little, takes the blame in a way that lets you know he really means it, fans get behind that.) Reid goes into shutdown mode when he senses a dangerous question, one that he isn't ready to answer or that might create controversy. This is not a man who ad-libs, who thinks nimbly on his feet, either during games or news conferences.

Unfortunately, Lurie made his anti-arrogance argument at a really bad time. For one thing, he's way too late with this. Sure, if communication would be improved by having Andy meet with small groups of us here and there, away from the cameras' glare, I'm all for it, but the coach's image isn't changing now as he approaches his 14th (and possibly final) season.

The other inconvenient truth to be dealt with is the last time Reid spoke in public, after Sunday's victory over the Redskins. Not a good outing for the anti-arrogance forces. Somehow, Reid went to the podium thinking he was going to answer a bunch of questions about his glorious victory that day over the Redskins. I don't see how you could be a 13-year NFL coach anywhere, especially Philadelphia, and really think that, but he apparently did.

As it became clear reporters wanted to dissect the season, and not Chad Hall's touchdown catch, Reid really dug in his heels. If he hadn't yet given any thought to his future, when might he start thinking about it?

"I'll think about it when I want to think about it," he said.

As bleep-you responses go, it was right up there with the famous line from 2003, when the Eagles were 0-2 and Reid was asked for some specifics about what needed to change.

"That's for me to know," he explained.

You can't really care what the fans think and say those things. You can't have any understanding of the fan mind-set, or the media, and say those things. In the wake of such moments, I often gaze in wonder at a page in my Eagles media guide. It's always there, every year, at the end of Andy's bio:

"As a player at BYU, Reid was also a columnist for the Provo Daily Herald. 'I had my own little column,' said Reid, who once longed to be a writer for Sports Illustrated. 'I loved Jim Murray [the late Los Angeles Times columnist]. I wrote a column trying to be like Jim. The editors took it easy on me. I enjoyed writing.' "

Maybe we can blame the editors at the Daily Herald. Clearly, they did not put young Andy in the right position to understand communicating with readers. They needed to do a better job with that. It started with them. They all had a piece of the pie. And so on.