After the Philadelphia Eagles dropped their fifth game in a row, a lot of the blame went on the defense for the performance against the Dallas Cowboys.
Outside of the All-Pro cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, the Eagles’ secondary had a rough outing. As for the defensive line, they struggled to apply any pressure on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
Then, on the ground, the Cowboys’ rushing game contributed 204 yards to the offensive total. After the game, media members went searching for answers from several players, including Jalen Carter and Riq Woolen. Those two declined to speak.
Ex-NFL Players Spoke On Eagles Stars Declining To Address Struggles vs Cowboys
Sitting with the PHLY Eagles team for a postgame show on Monday night, former NFL standouts Vinny Curry and Brandon Graham reacted in real time to hearing that Carter and Woolen chose not to speak to the media after the game.
“This is the first time they are getting hit with adversity. How do you handle it?” Curry said. “Most of the time, [fans say] guys is on here, you go on the shows as ex-players and ya’ll making excuses. What excuse? This is right here! You got to face the fire. Right, wrong, or differ. You getting paid $100 million, you got to talk!”
Carter was rewarded with a major contract extension right before firing up his training camp run with the Eagles this past summer. He’ll see a guaranteed $106.8 million over four years, making up to $152 million in that span.
Brandon Graham, who played with Carter over the past few seasons, shared thoughts from his perspective.
“You got to make that transition because if you’re going to put that ‘C’ on your chest, you got to be able to stand. I’m not saying he’s ready to take that, but you’re getting paid big money now, and some people are going to want to hear from you,” Graham said.
“I know it was a bad one, but the blow, you got to be able to take that blow, and it’s just like, man, stand on it. Because at least you didn’t run from the fire. Now, they can’t wait for Wednesday. They can’t wait to come see you, and if you decline then, it’s going to be a problem.”
For what it’s worth, Carter isn’t known to speak after games all that frequently. Whether it’s typical for him to decline is another story. Graham and Curry clearly feel like the veteran defensive tackle made the wrong decision. Later this week, Carter could share his side if and when he finally speaks.
