Eagles’ Vic Fangio isn’t making changes to his young, inexperienced defense despite the growing pains

Zack Baun hadn’t played a lot of inside linebacker before the Eagles signed him this past offseason, and the cut blocks with which the Atlanta Falcons exposed him Monday were some of the few he’s had directed his way during his four-plus NFL seasons. Next to him, Nakobe Dean entered the 2024 season with just four NFL starts under his belt.

Bryce Huff is the Eagles’ $51 million edge rushing addition who is being asked to learn to play on rushing downs, and to this point hasn’t shown the Eagles he can do it well enough to stay on the field consistently.

Quinyon Mitchell is doing a lot of things right as a rookie cornerback, but he missed a few assignments as the Falcons pushed the ball down the field on their game-winning drive Monday night. Second-round pick Cooper DeJean, meanwhile, missed a large chunk of training camp with a hamstring injury and played one defensive snap Monday as the Eagles continue to have him as the backup nickel on the depth chart.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said Thursday that Baun being exposed to those cut blocks Monday was a “valuable lesson,” and he thinks the linebacker is “going to be better prepared for it now.” Huff, Fangio said, is “still learning how to play the total game and not just rush situations.”

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The Eagles are young, and in the few places where they aren’t — Baun and Huff’s spots, specifically — they are inexperienced.

It was fair to pose the question to Fangio, then: Is the defense too young and inexperienced for Fangio’s scheme to function at a high level?

“I don’t think it’s as cut-and-dry as that,” Fangio said. “You can be young and still play good, mentally and physically. There’s been a lot of guys that do that. Are we still in the process of learning how to do everything? Probably. … Doing it at a high level of efficiency, especially when the game is on the line.”

Fangio then paused briefly, maybe considering the question again in its totality.

“Maybe,” he said.

Regardless of where Fangio thinks his unit stands, this is what the longtime defensive coordinator has to work with. Asked about making changes two games into the season, Fangio said: “Not wholesale changes, no.

“We need to do a better job, with me at the lead, of preparing the guys to play with better technique and better discipline.”

Right now, the Eagles need to make major improvements stopping the run. They rank 32nd among NFL teams in yards per carry allowed at 6.4. They are 30th in expected points added against the rush. They are giving up explosive running plays and are being exposed with the type of stretch and outside runs this week’s opponent, New Orleans, is excelling at. Fangio said the Saints likely would utilize even more of those types of running plays after watching film of his defense.

The inability to stop the run has trickle-down effects. Fangio was asked about the lack of production from three recent first-round picks out of Georgia: Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and Nolan Smith.

“I think when you talk production, you’re talking sacks and pressures and stuff,” Fangio said. “Until we do a better job of playing the run, those aren’t coming. That’s for sure. We all have to do a better job, starting with me, of playing the run better.”

Why are the two related?

“If you don’t stop the run, you’re not going to get into obvious pass [situations],” Fangio said.

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Dean, who won a starting inside linebacker job over free-agent signee Devin White, said there weren’t common themes between the Green Bay Packers averaging 7.8 yards per carry and Atlanta’s 5.4. During Week 1, Dean said the Eagles weren’t being detailed enough on play calls. On Monday, it seemed to be more of a technique issue, an area Fangio said is on the coaching staff to teach.

Dean said the Eagles weren’t making too much of the struggles yet.

“We know the type of team we got,” he said. “We know what type of people we got. We feel like it’s nothing to overreact [to]. We’re not overreacting, but we do put emphasis on the mistakes. We do call people out. We do hold people accountable for what they do.

“You shouldn’t overreact in this game. You overreact, you get flustered, and more bad things start happening.”

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He said he was confident that the Eagles have the personnel to get better quickly.

“If we get the people who are supposed to be striking, striking, the people who are supposed to be slipping blocks, slipping blocks, the people who are supposed to be tackling, tackling, we’re going to be great,” Dean said. “That’s all we got to do.”

In other words: Do everything better. It’s a lot to ask, and it won’t be as easy as he made it sound.

The Eagles play in Week 3 against the Saints in New Orleans. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Caesars Superdome.