Carter’s ejection highlights vulnerabilities on Eagles’ defense
Ongoing concerns remain
From The Reporter/MediaNews Group: https://tinyurl.com/kazhrhep
PHILADELPHIA — To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, there had to be a second spitter.
It’s easy to pile on Jalen Carter. He deserves it. The All-Pro defensive tackle welcomed the Dallas Cowboys with a gift in the Eagles’ Thursday night victory at Lincoln Financial Field. After the season-opening kickoff, Carter spit on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott right in front of a referee after approaching the Dallas huddle.
He was immediately flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and tossed out of the game before a single play from scrimmage even happened. Worse, the vile incident came just moments after the Eagles officially raised their Super Bowl LIX championship banner in a joyous celebration.
All the talk of Carter’s emerging leadership and maturity this summer flew straight out the window. Social media melted down with indignation. Sports scribes and talk show hosts everywhere readied their cannons to fire at the 24-year-old. To Carter’s credit, he faced the music postgame, standing at his locker and answering questions.
“It was a mistake that happened on my side, and it just won’t happen again,” Carter said. “I feel bad for my teammates and the fans out there, you know? I’m doing it for them. I’m doing it for my family also, but the fans, they show the most love. You heard them out there today.
“It won’t happen again. I can make that promise.”
The truth, after analysis reminiscent of the Zapruder film, was that Prescott first spit in Carter’s direction and then taunted him. Carter, not known for good judgment or restraint, took the bait.
“Yeah, I probably spit a thousand times throughout the game,” Prescott said. “But in that case, he was … trying to mess with (Cowboys right guard) Tyler Booker. I was just looking at him. I was right here by the two linemen and I guess I needed to spit, and I wasn’t going to spit on my linemen and I just spit ahead.
“I would say he was back there … and he goes, ‘Are you trying to spit on me?’ At that point, I mean I felt like he was insulting me. I wouldn’t spit on somebody. ‘I’m damn sure I’m not trying to spit on you. We’re about to play a game. I’m wondering why you’re trying to mess with the rookie.’ And so when I stepped through, I actually say the words like, ‘What would I need to spit on you for?’
“He just spit on me in that moment. It was more of a surprise than anything. Refs obviously saw it and threw the flag. I was like, ‘Hell yeah! We get 15 yards to start the game off.’”
Wait, so Dak didn’t mean to spit at him? Or he was responding to Carter’s alleged trolling of Booker? Which is it? (And that explanation seems like Dak doth protest too much.)
Prescott’s plausible deniability aside, no one can argue it wasn’t a dumb and impulsive move by Carter, even if there was disrespect by both parties. And it wasn’t Carter’s first infraction.
A year ago, he was benched for a series against the Atlanta Falcons after oversleeping and being late for a meeting. And far more serious, in his final year at Georgia, he had four driving-related incidents in five months, the last a street-racing accident that killed teammate Devin Willock and Bulldogs staffer Chandler LeCroy and injured two others.
Carter was charged with two misdemeanors and agreed to a year of probation; he still faces possible civil liability. Initially projected as a top two or three pick in 2023, he tumbled to No. 9, where the Eagles selected him, confident they had done their due diligence on his character. He has flourished on the field as a disruptive force up front, finishing runner-up for Defensive Rookie of the Year and then being voted to the Pro Bowl last season.
“I’m going to keep all our conversations and all my disciplinary things in-house, but we have to fix it as coaches,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said regarding Carter. “We want to have great energy, tenacity, all those different things, but we’ve got to do it within the rules of the game.”
After the ejection, Dallas tested the Eagles’ defensive line by rushing the ball twice for a combined 11 yards. Three plays later, Prescott, now not having to worry about pressure from Carter, stood in the pocket and delivered a 32-yard strike to CeeDee Lamb on a corner route to the right side, all the way down to the Birds’ 1-yard line to set up a score.
“You lose a great player on either side of the ball, it affects them and they’re a little bit thin there,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “They were down a defensive lineman and a great defensive lineman at that.”
On the completion, Dallas was picking on Adoree’ Jackson, who had gotten the nod at second outside cornerback, a position of concern after the Eagles released Darius Slay in the spring to clear salary space. Jackson competed with Kelee Ringo and Jakorian Bennett for the job during training camp, but none of them really stood out as a clear winner. Bennett didn’t arrive until midway through camp, when general manager Howie Roseman acquired him from the Las Vegas Raiders, and he got some snaps Thursday.
The Cowboys continued to exploit Jackson throughout the night as he struggled against Lamb, committing pass interference and giving up additional chunk plays of 26 and 23 yards, though he did have one pass breakup. Afterward, when asked how he’d grade his performance, Jackson replied, “I’d give myself a ‘C.’ Obviously there were some plays I’d want back.”
The Eagles also lost edge rushers Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat, defensive tackle Milton Williams and free safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson in the offseason, plus inside linebacker Nakobe Dean is on the PUP list — all of which made Carter’s disqualification extra costly. Sirianni could be seen seething on the sideline when he was booted.
Last year, a strength of the Birds’ top-ranked defense was the ability to create pressure with just the front four. Without Carter, combined with the other departures, that was no longer the case. Fortunately, Jalen Hurts played like Superman and coordinator Vic Fangio began blitzing in the second half, for which Dallas had few answers.
Still, Carter’s absence reinforced questions about depth that lingered over this defense all summer.
NOTES: This was the first time the Eagles opened a season at home against Dallas since 1970 at Franklin Field. … Since 2011, the Birds have the NFL’s best record in season openers (13-2, .867). … Rookie safety Andrew Mukuba (four tackles, three solo) and rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell (three tackles and a pass deflection) held their own. … Jake Elliott nailed a 58-yard field goal to account for the final 24-20 margin. He was 1-for-7 from beyond 50 yards last season. … Fans were lined up to tailgate at 4 a.m. Thursday, 16 hours before kickoff. … To mitigate SEPTA cuts amid a funding stalemate, FanDuel stepped up to pay for express train service to and from the game.
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Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.