Getty Eagles CB Sidney Jones was a second-round pick in 2017.
The Eagles’ secondary has looked overmatched all year. To be fair, it has been beaten down and depleted by injuries going back to training camp. Still, no more excuses.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz confirmed Tuesday that starting cornerback Ronald Darby will be gone for a few weeks as he nurses a bad hamstring. Darby was already banged up having undergone season-ending ACL surgery towards the middle of last season. The idea of the young guys stepping up is nothing new in Schwartz’s system. The Eagles relied on 10 different cornerbacks in 2018 as they were literally plugging and playing guys from the street.
This year, the injury bug hasn’t been that bad — at least not yet. In addition to Darby missing time, the unit is without emerging star Cre’Von LeBlanc who went on IR to start the season. Jalen Mills remains on the PUP list. The Eagles will line up Rasul Douglas and Sidney Jones on the outside, with a collective 19 starts between them. No excuses.
“Those guys have built up a lot of good snaps and have been there for us and have played consistent ball for us and have made some plays,” Schwartz told reporters. “But what they’ve done in the past isn’t going to make any difference now.
“They’re going to have to play well in a different set of circumstances now rather than spot-subbing or filling in for somebody, they’re going to have to go in and play because we’ll be without [CB Ronald] Darby for a little while.”
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Did Eagles Only Have 10 Men on the Field?
There was a viral video making the rounds that showed the Eagles’ defense only having 10 men on the field last week against the Lions. It seemed insane to think an NFL team could not have enough men out there, but it was true.
The defense was missing a right defensive end on a momentum-swinging play in the second quarter. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford noticed it and exploited it by running a 44-yard reverse to J.D. McKissic. The busted play put Detroit into Eagles’ territory and allowed them to kick a field goal on the drive.
.@lions v @eagles and #JJMcKissic goes for +44 on this reverse against a 10 man defense. 10 MAN DEFENSE! No one sees this from the #Birds? No one? #BaldysBreakdowns
Defensive Jim Schwartz admitted to the gaffe and blamed it on Derek Barnett being forced off the field with an ankle injury.
“It didn’t look like it,” a laughing Schwartz said. “That was an unfortunate situation, and our substitution pattern broke down. I don’t know if you guys noticed, but we were rolling guys through quite a bit trying to keep guys fresh, and Derek had gone down with that ankle injury, and we were sort of in the middle of getting that settled, and all of a sudden we were on the field quick with a turnover.
“All of a sudden we had to take it, and we had miscommunication of who was going out there, and we paid a heavy price for it because even though they get the ball at midfield, we’ve still got a chance to keep them out of field goal range.”
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