Is Pederson sending right messages on problem players?

Michael Vick has become the Eagles' model for successful rehabilitation projects, but what Doug Pederson, Howie Roseman, and Jeffrey Lurie have failed to put into the proper context is that Andy Reid took that gamble 10 years into his tenure as Eagles coach, and only as his position atop the team became more tenuous.

Vick, for the most part, was a model citizen and he even gave the Eagles a few hurrahs. But in the end he flamed out.

Reid took a similar risk in drafting DeSean Jackson, but, again, it was only late into his term. He had established a culture that was able to envelop the mercurial receiver and keep him, mostly, in check. But Reid took that chance only because the Eagles had failed so often in evaluating the receiver position.

The only time he previously felt confident enough to bring in a player with a personality as potentially disruptive was with Terrell Owens in 2004. Reid, though, had a championship-caliber team at that point.

He had leaders who had fostered a locker room environment in which the players policed themselves and the culture was one inhabited by, in terms of football, like-minded individuals who enjoyed playing alongside one another and were willing to fight for one another when faced with adversity.

Of course, none of the aforementioned gambles ultimately paid off in terms of Super Bowls. That isn't to say similar ones haven't for other teams, and if a few breaks had gone the Eagles' way, they could have cashed in spectacularly on the roll of the dice with Owens.

But Reid would have never brought Vick, Jackson, or Owens into the fold during his first season. It's doubtful he would have felt confident enough in his culture that he would have traded for a Dorial Green-Beckham as the Eagles did last week.

"As a player, I know that first year a lot of players were gone . . . and he was trying to bring in the players that he wanted," Pederson said of Reid. "A lot of these players on this football team he drafted, and so I lean on those guys because they know the culture and they know what to expect going forward."

But the head coach needs to lay the groundwork. And it's difficult to say where Pederson has drawn his lines. During his first training camp, Reid, famously, had George Hegamin stay after practice and drive a blocking sled as punishment for skipping a team meeting. He rode the sled and barked commands as the guard pushed it. Hegamin was cut the next day.

Pederson has seemingly taken the opposite approach - one more hands-off. When Nelson Agholor was accused of sexual assault in June, the coach said he hadn't spoken to the receiver as of the start of camp in late July. Agholor was eventually cleared, but Pederson's response to the player's putting himself in that situation was that "we all make mistakes."

A few days later, Nigel Bradham was charged with assaulting a hotel employee. The linebacker has claimed innocence, and there will now be a process that may or may not result in a conviction. But Pederson has opted to not punish Bradham for the time being.

When Darrel Crutchfield, Terrence Carroll, and Correll Buckhalter were stopped for smoking marijuana on South Street in Reid's third season, the coach suspended all three players for a game even though only Carroll was charged.

In a different set of circumstances, after Pederson found out that Lane Johnson had failed a drug test for performance-enhancing drugs and is facing a possible 10-game suspension, he said during his first news conference after the news broke that he had not yet spoken to the tackle.

Pederson has often cited his playing experience when asked how he would relate to today's players. Lurie said he wanted a coach who would "open his heart" to the players - unlike, presumably, Chip Kelly. But have the Eagles gone too far to the other extreme in terms of discipline?

"I think he understands that we're grown-ups," tight end Brent Celek said of Pederson. "I think it's hard to sit there and pinpoint exactly what he does. But it's just how he handles himself in certain situations."

But is Pederson's culture established enough so that new additions with character questions will be assimilated into the locker room? Roseman has already drafted three rookies with checkered pasts and signed a free agent who has already been arrested. Now Green-Beckham, who has had multiple problems both on the field and off, is being brought into the fold.

"It's an organizational decision and it's on all of us," Roseman said. "It's on all of us to rally around these guys and give them a support system."

The Eagles certainly knew about Deon Long's history when they signed him only days after the Rams released him on July 31. But it wasn't until Hard Knocks that the public knew why Rams coach Jeff Fisher had cut him. He was caught sneaking a woman into his camp dorm room.

Long stuck around long enough for one preseason game, but he had already overstayed his welcome. It took only a few days of his walking around the corridors of his hotel in various states of undress for his new teammates to tire of his act, according to team sources. He was cut on Aug. 14.

Pederson said that he feels comfortable with the culture of the team and the leaders he has in place. While he said that he is leaning on Reid-drafted players, only eight remain from that era, and none have won a playoff game.

Every team has significant turnover each offseason. The Eagles could have as many as 20 new faces on their 53-man roster.

"I think [culture's] something that's built over time in the offseason, hanging out during the season, not necessarily hanging out in the facility," said Celek, one of the longest-tenured Eagles. "It helps build relationships, so that when things get tough, you stick together."

Receiver Jordan Matthews joked that he wasn't going to bunk with Green-Beckham, but it's clear the Eagles would like him to take the new receiver under his wing. He is entering only his third season, but Matthews has clearly emerged as a leader.

He is the type of player Pederson can entrust to show others, like Green-Beckham, the right way to go about their business.

"You do that over time and then when people see good things happen for you, they say, 'OK, I might want to try what that guy's doing,' " Matthews said Saturday. "I don't know if Dorial had that at Missouri or Tennessee, but I want to make sure he has that here."

The Eagles gave up little to get the former Titans receiver, but they may have jeopardized what little early capital Pederson has with the locker room. You have only one opportunity to make a first impression.

jmclane@phillynews.com

@Jeff_McLane