PHILADELPHIA − Hardly an Eagles practice goes by without defensive tackle Jalen Carter doing something extraordinary.
It’s why fellow defensive tackle Fletcher Cox recently said “you don’t see” plays from a rookie like the ones Carter has been making during training camp.
On Thursday, Carter’s standout play came during the first set of team 11-on-11 drills. Carter was getting some reps with the first team defense when he instinctively put his hands up as quarterback Jalen Hurts was throwing the ball over the middle.
Carter deflected the ball and a teammate nearly intercepted it. Later in practice, Carter, this time with the third team, bull-rushed his way past the right guard. Rookie quarterback Tanner McKee, who’s 6-foot-6, got the ball off just before Carter got to him for a “sack.” This time, Carter just missed deflected the pass, which fell incomplete.
Carter, in fact, has lined up all across the defensive line in recent practices. That included a few plays when he was at defensive end on the right side, with fellow rookie and first-round pick Nolan Smith as the “overhang” rusher. The two former Georgia Bulldogs both got a good rush against the Eagles’ first-team offensive line.
“He can play anywhere from a ‘0’ to a ‘4i,'” Smith said, referring to lining up directly over the center as a ‘0’ to in between the tackle and guard as a ‘4i.’ “He got skill sets where he can bang with the ‘0,’ and take on double teams. He can do so much as far as his skill trait.
“I think 4i is the hardest position on defense. I don’t care what you say. You go down there and take on 600 pounds of a double team of two grown men. You’re not going to last very long (doing that).”
Carter is not only lasting; he’s thriving.
On Wednesday, Carter had a “sack.” Last week, lined up as the “4i,” Carter shoved over two offensive linemen as a running back ran to the outside, unable to cut back.
Myles Jack has thoughts on a Zombie Apocalypse
Perhaps you never thought about how you might prepare for a “zombie apocalypse.”
Well, newest Eagles linebacker Myles Jack has − and it’s go to trade school. Jack said he was thinking about doing that when the Eagles called last Saturday. He got on a plane from his home in Jacksonville, Florida, packing just two pairs of “drawers,” as he called underwear, plus two pairs of socks, two sweatsuits and his Bible.
The seven-year NFL veteran tried out Sunday afternoon, then found out that he wasn’t getting on a plane back home. That’s because the Eagles told him they’re signing him and fellow veteran linebacker Zach Cunningham to one-year contracts.
Jack said he went to an area retailer to buy some T-shirts, and said he’d wash his underwear when he got a chance.
A WENTZ REUNION?What Jalen Hurts’ pushups have to do with Carson Wentz’s ‘lab’ work − and an Eagles reunion
Then he was asked why he’d consider trade school during an NFL career in which he was a second-round pick in 2016, signed a four-year deal worth as much as $57 million in 2019, and made tens of millions of dollars even though he was released in each of the past two springs.
“I’m a hustler,” Jack said. “I feel like I can do anything. … I’ve been blessed to make a lot of money, so I could just retire and sit at the house. But I’m too bored. My mind is too much. I just want to be innovative. If the zombie apocalypse happens, I want to be able to build something or fix something.”
For now, he and Cunningham are being asked to fix the Eagles’ inside linebacker corps. Nakobe Dean is considered one starter, but the Eagles had been rotating Nicholas Morrow or Christian Elliss at the other spot. Neither has played particularly well, and there’s little depth behind them.
Jack and Cunningham, the Houston Texans’ second-round pick in 2017 who has also been released twice, have more than 1,200 tackles and 13 sacks combined.
They both knew that each would be signing, and they welcomed the challenge, knowing that one of them probably isn’t going to start.
Jack said it’s been a whirlwind.
“One week you’re on the couch playing ‘Call of Duty,’ the next week you’re playing with the Super Bowl (runners-up),” he said. “Time waits for nobody, and I’m just figuring it out as fast as (I can).”
Dean was a full participant in practice Thursday after suffering an ankle injury last week.
DeVonta Smith attends Henry Ruggs’ vehicular manslaughter sentencing
The Eagles excused wide receiver DeVonta Smith from practice Wednesday, citing personal reasons. It turned out Smith attended the vehicular manslaughter sentencing for former Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs in Las Vegas.
Photographs showed Smith in the Las Vegas courtroom as Ruggs was sentenced to at least three years for a car accident that caused the death of 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog. Ruggs was driving 156 mph and his blood-alcohol level was reportedly more than two times the legal limit.
Smith and Ruggs were college teammates and close friends at Alabama. Smith called Ruggs “my brother from another mother” back in November 2021, shortly after the accident.
Minor scuffle in Eagles practice
Eagles left guard Landon Dickerson caused the ire of the defensive line when he blocked Derek Barnett from behind and to the ground during a play Wednesday. There was no flag on the play.
Barnett got up and pushed Dickerson. The two were quickly separated, but several defensive linemen were chirping at Dickerson from the sideline.
Neither of the combatants was available to the media, but left tackle Jordan Mailata downplayed the incident.
“That’s not a scuffle, come on, man,” Mailata said. “There’s nothing to it. They’re hugging in the locker room right now. Or I hope so.”
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
