Jalen Carter is his own critic, but the Eagles defense’s turnaround was because he was anything but ‘trash’

Nakobe Dean can tell when Jalen Carter is having a good game by the sound.

“Even if you don’t see him, you’re going to hear him,” Dean said Thursday before Eagles practice. “If he’s having a quiet game, he’s probably not doing as well as he wants to do. But you’re going to definitely hear him [when he’s good]. He’s going to talk his talk. He’s going to get himself going.”

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Carter had a lot to be loud about as the final seconds ticked off the clock Sunday in New Orleans. The second-year defensive tackle had one of the best performances of his 19-game NFL career. Carter pressured Saints quarterback Derek Carr at critical times and had two deflections on Carr pass attempts. Pro Football Focus credited Carter with three hurries and graded his pass-rushing performance at 93.9, his highest NFL total.

In what was a wild win that featured multiple Eagles injuries and a late-game surge, Carter at the end was running his mouth to anyone in earshot — Saints players, Saints fans, Big Dom.

The Eagles defense, Carter included, had a rough first two weeks. It was allowing the most yards per carry in the NFL and wasn’t applying nearly enough pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Did Carter feel like Sunday was silencing critics?

“It’s not trying to silence nobody,” he said Thursday. “I’m here to play for my team and try to get a [win] and help in the best way possible. I’m not here trying to silence nobody, or say, ‘Look at me do this and that.’ Nah, I’m just here playing for the team.”

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Carter said he was excited that his fellow defensive tackle and University of Georgia teammate Jordan Davis sacked Carr on Sunday but regretted not being on the field for it. The two have a celebration Carter says he’s waiting to break out on the field. Carter has yet to register a sack but has 10 pressures this season, according to PFF. Carter played 89% of the defensive snaps Sunday, the largest share in the NFL.

“Everybody saw the film,” said Dean, a linebacker who also played with Carter at Georgia. “He did exactly what he’s supposed to do, what I expect him to do, what I’ve seen him do so many times before, and that’s wreck the game.”

Safety Reed Blankenship has a good view of Carter’s wreckage from where he stands on the field.

“It’s just a whole bunch of just caving in, people playing two to three yards behind the line of scrimmage, and, man, it just makes your life a whole lot easier,” Blankenship said.

The defense watched the film from Sunday’s win as a whole, and there was a lot to like from Carter and other Eagles pass rushers.

There’s a relationship between pass rushing and coverage. The quicker the rush can get there, the shorter amount of time players like Blankenship have to cover. “Let the boys eat, man,” Blankenship said of the team’s pass rushers.

Carter was a harsh critic of his performance in the Week 2 loss to Atlanta, calling it “trash,” and again said he played poorly during Sunday’s win.

“I think I was all right,” Carter said. “I’m never going to be the best. I’m never going to be good. I’m just going to keep working and getting better every week.”

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His teammates were more comfortable talking him up. Blankenship said he has seen Carter, 23, mature quickly since coming into the league, both in his personality and as a player.

“He’s going to be a dude,” Blankenship said. “He already is.”

Said Dean: “He had a good rookie season, but he went through the trial of getting beat, guys figuring him out, having to sit a little bit on the bench, too, the media going crazy on him, the fans saying stuff to him. He went through that, and now it is what it is. He knows what he has to do to prepare himself mentally, physically, and emotionally for the games.”

Carter and the Eagles are heading back to Tampa Bay this week, not far from Carter’s hometown of Apopka, Fla. The Eagles played there twice last season, and Carter looked like a “dude” in the first meeting and a rookie hitting the proverbial rookie wall in the playoff loss.

Revenge game?

“Nah. They see what’s on film,” Carter said. “We don’t look at that. We’re where we at now, and we’re just trying to get a [win].”

Dean said the same. It’s a new Eagles team and a new Buccaneers team, too. But Carter will likely have plenty of impact. Bucs lineman Cody Mauch has allowed 14 pressures from right guard this season, according to NFL Insights, tied for most in the league. Expect more double teams heading Carter’s way, and more opportunity for his teammates to make their mark.

“I feel like we don’t need to get too high on this,” Blankenship said of Sunday’s turnaround performance from the defense. “That’s with anything. We just need to play, and we played Sunday like how we’re supposed to, and that shows what we can do and what our potential is. That standard has always been set, but we played up to that standard, and now we need to outperform that.”

With Sunday’s version of Carter, the standard may need to be raised.

The Eagles play in Week 4 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Raymond James Stadium.