The Eagles are back to work preparing for the Chiefs in Week 2, but DC Vic Fangio spoke to reporters on Tuesday and talked a bit about the defensive performance against the Cowboys, and what he’s seen from the secondary. He also addressed the multitude of penalties against the Cowboys, but Fangio didn’t point to the refs, and instead admitted that they have to clean things up.
Here’s what the DC had to say:
On the DL without Jalen Carter
“Well, I think the first thing that happens is, now you’re down to four d-lineman and everybody’s rep counts have to go up. So, to me, that’s the biggest adjustment.
Obviously, you lose the player, which is no good on multiple fronts, but it’s a rep thing, too.“
Fangio said that the players did a good job with an increased workload, and noted that Jordan Davis played more snaps in a game than he has in his career — later admitting that Davis might not have been able to play that number of snaps at a high level without his offseason conditioning —, and Byron Young played more than expected. The DC had good things to say about Young and how he brought good energy and effort, and had a lot of impactful moments.
And while overall the defensive line did fine, he also acknowledged it could’ve been better.
“We didn’t shut down the running game by any means. We all could’ve been a little better.”
The DC later talked about previous comments he made regarding Carter balancing playing nasty and within the rules, and reiterated that the DT needs to stay focused on the task at hand and let go of the extra-curriculars. When asked how Carter has evolved as a leader, Fangio said that to be a leader, the DT needs to lead by his actions.
He also noted that he pretty much left the discussions with Carter about the incident to head coach Nick Sirianni. And while they haven’t heard about any additional league discipline, Fangio expects to hear soon and doesn’t think it’ll affect their game planning process either way.
On the secondary
“[Adoree’ Jackson]‘s just gotta make sure he’s a master technician, and not let his technique falter. You know, [the Cowboys] have good receivers and if you don’t go about your job the right way from a technical standpoint, those good receivers become impossible to cover.”
Fangio was later asked if the plan was for Jackson to start on Sunday against Kansas City, to which the DC hedged a bit, “Right now, yes.” He later said that he didn’t really get to see enough of Jakorian Bennett when Jackson was being evaluated for a concussion — Bennett only saw seven snaps — to make any kind of sweeping assessment.
The DC said that Cooper DeJean preferably stays at nickel, so they aren’t considering moving him to the outside permanently.
As for the rotation in their base package, Fangio said the plan was for Sydney Brown to play the base snaps, and Cooper DeJean would play the nickel snaps. He noted that going into the game, they thought they would be in base more than they were, but the Cowboys tried to make a three WR game, so the reps got distorted.
With using less base, Fangio was asked how rookie safety Andrew Mukuba did with the additional reps, and he was reluctant to be too complintary.
“[Drew Mukuba] did okay. Had a couple major busts that hurt us, and could’ve hurt us even more. So, looking for him to improve next week.”
Other notables
- Fangio explained the usage of Zack Baun and rookie Jihaad Campbell, and noted that Baun is capable of playing multiple roles, but he has more experience at MLB than Campbell.
- The DC admitted he hasn’t followed Za’Darius Smith’s career, but knows he’s talented. He doesn’t know how Smith will fit in just yet — they still have to figure out what kind of shape he’s in, and how quickly he’ll be able to pick up the defense. Fangio said, “That’s a TBD right there.”
- He talked about the challenge for the defense when quarterbacks, like Patrick Mahomes, are near the sidelines. They have to be aware of everything because a QB could flop out of bounds or lower their shoulder and try to continue driving down the field.
- Fangio said the Chiefs have made deep passes a point of emphasis through the preseason and in Week 1, so he expects to see more of that on Sunday.
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