PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The punishment was so subtle it flew under Nakobe Dean’s radar.
“It’s crazy,” said the Philadelphia Eagles linebacker, “because I didn’t even know, didn’t even recognize it.”
The oversight was understandable.
It was the second game of the season — the Eagles versus Atlanta on Monday Night Football at Lincoln Financial Field. It seemed like defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was doing what he usually does: mixing up personnel on the defensive line.
“They rotate these D-linemen in and out all the time,” Dean said.
So no, Dean didn’t catch that Jalen Carter, the Eagles’ bruising nose tackle and his former college teammate at Georgia, was missing in action the entire first defensive series of the game.
It wasn’t an accident. Earlier in the week, Carter was late for a team meeting. The incident wasn’t his first brush with skirting team protocol.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman felt it was time to publicly address Carter’s behavior, so they pulled him from the starting lineup against the Falcons.
While Atlanta’s first drive ended in a punt, blue chip running back Bijan Robinson — who the Falcons took one spot ahead of Carter with the eighth pick in the 2023 NFL Draft — had a couple of decent carries.
Carter was out there for the Eagles’ next defensive series, but he and the run defense looked off the rest of the game.
Months later, with the Eagles’ eventual 22-21 loss to Atlanta well in the rearview and Carter in a Pro Bowl-caliber season, the 23-year-old put the evening in perspective.
“Yeah, I definitely took that game personal,” he told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane on the latest episode of the “unCovering the Birds” podcast.
With six games to go in an increasingly promising Eagles campaign, Carter’s 30 tackles are just three shy of his total from all last year, when he logged 16 appearances.
His 7.0 tackles-for-loss ranks third on the team, while the pressure he applies on the pocket is constant.
Carter’s 3.5 sacks represent a solid number (he registered 6.0 sacks as an All-Rookie honoree in 2023), but the true measure of his force can be found in advanced statistics, which show just how often he commands double-teams.
“He’s gotten better every week,” said Fangio, “which is a good thing to me.”
To one of Carter’s veteran mentors, drawing a line from the disciplinary action the Eagles took against him in the Falcons game to his sharpened focus on the field isn’t a stretch.
“That’s what happened, man,” Brandon Graham said.
Thirteen years Carter’s senior, the 36-year-old can relate to Carter. Graham had his own missteps in his early days as a pro.
“Sometimes it takes [being disciplined] for you to realize, what am I doing?” said Graham.
This year, Carter has been the interior centerpiece of the Eagles’ defense, one of the better units in the league. Not only did he slide seamlessly into a starting role left vacant by Fletcher Cox’s retirement, but his fitness level has allowed him to assume a massive workload.
Carter has played over 80% of the Eagles’ snaps. Based on his efforts last Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
“Everybody’s depending on you now,” Graham said he told Carter. “We need you. We need that Jalen every week.”
To learn more about Carter’s growth on and off the field, check out “unCovering the Birds.” Plus, more on Graham’s status beyond this year in the aftermath of his season-ending injury, and a look ahead to Saquon Barkley’s next challenge: the Baltimore Ravens’ always-stout defense.
🎧 ▶️ unCovering the Birds
“unCovering the Birds” is a production of The Philadelphia Inquirer and KYW Newsradio Original Podcasts. Look for new episodes each week during the regular season. Follow on the free Audacy app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you listen to podcasts.