Eagles’ Coach Says Peete Is His Starter : Pro football: But Rhodes suggests that Cunningham, whose wife is close to giving birth in Las Vegas, should be on hand for the playoff game all the same.

Ray Rhodes, coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, was named NFL coach of the year Tuesday because of a style that is decisive and aggressive, not to mention successful.

All of his players know their jobs are only as safe as their latest performance. That includes his top two quarterbacks, each of whom he has benched in favor of the other, In one game, he benched both of them.

Rhodes said Tuesday he’d do it again Saturday if necessary when the Eagles host the Detroit Lions in a NFC wild-card playoff game at Veterans Stadium.

But he might not be able to. It seems Randall Cunningham’s wife Felicity is in their home in Las Vegas awaiting the arrival of a new Cunningham and that might happen any day.

The proud father reportedly has said that if it comes down to a choice between standing on the sideline at The Vet Saturday or being at his wife’s side when she gives birth, he’ll choose the latter.

“I understand that,” Rhodes said, although he didn’t quite make it clear that what he understands is that Cunningham is about to be a father or if he’s going to be AWOL.

“I expect him to be here,” Rhodes said, not totally clarifying the situation.

But there isn’t much Rhodes can do if Cunningham decides he’d rather be somewhere else. He could suspend him, but pay for a playoff game is peanuts compared to what Cunningham gets for a regular-season game.

Besides, no one including Cunningham expects him to be re-signed by the Eagles for next season.

But if he’s in uniform Saturday at 4 p.m., Rhodes said Cunningham might get one last chance to do something that might drive up his value for any prospective employer.

“Rodney [Peete] is our starting quarterback,” was as far as Rhodes would go in endorsing a guy whose record this season is 10-3 combined as a starter and “relief pitcher.” Cunningham was the quarterback in the three losses and combined with the five he had at the end of last season hasn’t won a game in his last eight starts.

But Peete has struggled lately, prompting calls by some fans for a change, even at this late stage in the game.

“This is the week where everything is on the line,” Rhodes said. “We’ll do everything to get the job done. We can’t leave any resource untapped.”

That means Peete can expect to get benched if he continues to play like he has the last two weeks, providing Cunningham isn’t sitting on a bench in a maternity ward. Going to third-stringer Jay Fiedler seems unlikely since Fiedler has yet to take a snap in the NFL.

“I understand that,” Peete said of the pressure on him to turn his season around and echoing Rhodes’ words about Cunningham’s situation. “I know I’ve got to play well. I look forward to playing well.”

Rhodes said his selection as coach of the year happened be cause of people such as Peete. And although he scorched his players for their performance last Sunday in a loss to the Chicago Bears, he called them the real “heroes” in his selection.

He also thanked the front office and spent some time dispelling rumors that he and Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Eagles, have a problem. He said Lurie has done everything Rhodes has asked him to do in the search and acquisition of talent.

“We have a great rapport,” Rhodes said. “Without his support there is no way we’d be here practicing for the playoffs.”