PHILADELPHIA, P.A. - The Eagles’ defense is staring at a simple problem, and it doesn’t sound like one that can be solved with scheme alone.
After Monday night’s loss to the Cowboys, Nick Sirianni insisted effort was not the issue. He said it plainly during the week: “I did not see an effort issue on Monday night.
… There were other things. But effort in no way, shape [or] form was an issue here.”
That didn’t sit well with everyone in the locker room.
Two days later, Jordan Davis gave a much different read on what went wrong. “It was poor from everybody, and that's just simple and plain about it,” the defensive tackle said. “It was poor.”
Zack Baun was just as blunt when asked whether the effort level was where it needed to be. “I do not, no,” he said.
The Eagles now have to try to stop the slide Sunday night against the Commanders in another primetime spot, and the focus inside the building is turning toward whether this defense can find its edge again.
The strange part is that the offense has dealt with the heavy injury burden, while the defense has mostly stayed intact. Jonathan Greenard is the exception, still trying to get past an ankle injury that has bothered him over the last few weeks.
The talent on that side of the ball is still there. It didn’t disappear.
Jalen Carter said the league has been teaching that lesson from the start.
“When I first got in the league, they let me know the NFL's not easy to win in,” Carter said. “It's gonna be hard, day in and day out. And this year's proven that it's hard to win in the NFL and that we just gotta change things now, change things around.”
What the Eagles need now is more than a reminder. They need someone on defense to take charge.
That’s where the contrast with the offense has become hard to ignore. Jordan Mailata was in the middle of the Lincoln Financial Field locker room after the loss to the Panthers, still in full pads and already starting to unlatch his shoulder pads while answering questions.
Saquon Barkley spent more than 15 minutes talking after the loss to Dallas. Landon Dickerson nearly broke down after that game, saying he played horribly.
On defense, only Cooper DeJean and Jihaad Campbell spoke after the Cowboys loss.
Davis thinks part of the problem is that the group has lost the feel of playing football for the sake of playing football. In his view, it has started to feel like work.
“You ask anybody in this locker room, you're not having fun playing the game; it kinda seems like a... That's when it really seems like a job,” Davis said.
“When you're having fun, it doesn't seem like a job. It feels like something that you get to do; you have to enjoy this game.
It's gonna be wins and losses and everything, and that's in life. You have to find those little moments to enjoy, and right now we're trying to find those little moments, those little wins.”
The defense has also lost a voice like Nakobe Dean, who was the player making sure everyone stayed accountable and stayed engaged, whether it was on the sideline, in practice, in the locker room, or during games.
This isn’t about reopening the discussion of Dean leaving in free agency for Las Vegas on a three-year, $36 million deal. It’s about the present: who is leading this defense now?
That answer still isn’t clear. Davis might be the one to step into that role.
“We know what we're capable of,” he said. “We've reached the highest of highs.
We've seen the lowest of lows now. We have to do something to fix it, and that's one of the things that we've been a part of in practice this week: fixing the effort.
We have to give effort.”
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