Jalen Carter and the Eagles begin life without Fletcher Cox

Life without Fletcher Cox for the Eagles began this week, the first organized team activities since the future Hall of Fame defensive tackle announced his retirement in March. And life without Cox means that Jalen Carter, 23 as of early April, suddenly goes from rookie to … being asked about mentoring these new guys in camp.

To be clear, there is only one defensive lineman on the Eagles’ roster younger than Carter — 22-year-old Moro Ojomo, a seventh-round pick last year. But there are some new faces in the room, and if you take out Brandon Graham (36) and Josh Sweat (27), it’s a pretty young and relatively inexperienced group. As far as those listed at defensive tackle, “I don’t think there’s anybody over 25 years old,” Carter said Wednesday afternoon.

He’s right. But there is plenty of talent at new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s disposal all across the line, including at the edges. Still, Cox’s departure means Carter and Jordan Davis are officially the present and the future for the Eagles, who used a first-round pick in consecutive seasons to prepare for their new reality.

Passing of the torch? In some ways, yes. In other ways, maybe not quite yet. Cox played 200 games — including playoffs — with the Eagles. Carter has played in 17 and Davis 34.

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“A lot of people look up to us,” Carter said of himself and Davis, “but I wouldn’t say we are the leaders because we’re all young at the end of the day. We all can learn from each other.”

Right now, they’re all in the same boat with a new face, Fangio, leading the defense, and another, Clint Hurtt, in charge of the defensive line. Carter spent some time recently in Miami working out, and spoke with a few Dolphins about their time with Fangio, who spent the 2023 season in Miami. Fangio reportedly butted heads with some players on the Dolphins, a notion the coordinator refuted when he spoke with Philadelphia media for the first time earlier this month. Fangio acknowledged he’s an old-school coach, a description Carter said he identified with.

“I’m all about old-school football,” Carter said. “If you know Apopka [Fla.] High School, where I’m from … our culture is old school with everything we did. It’s always been old school, hard work. I’m ready to be coached any kind of way. Old school, new school, whatever you want to call it.”

Carter had a strong start to his rookie campaign in 2023, but he faded down the stretch and also dealt with the legal fallout stemming from his alleged role in a car crash that claimed the lives of a Georgia teammate and football staff member after their national championship celebration in January 2023.

Carter dominated at times, but he was penalized too often, and when the Eagles needed him most as their season withered away, the rookie struggled to produce during his opportunities.

“It wasn’t how I wanted it to end,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff on film that I need to fix. It’s OK. We’re here now and I’m ready to be better than last year.”

The technique stuff, Carter said, will come with time on the field, and he didn’t go into details when asked what stuck out on film. But his main focus over the four-plus months since the season ended with a playoff dud in Tampa Bay has been conditioning. There will be more snaps up for grabs with Cox out of the picture, and Carter knows he needs to be in great shape.

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Asked earlier this month how he planned to maximize Carter in his defense, Fangio didn’t express much concern.

“I think he’s talented enough that no matter what we do with him, we’ll be maximizing him,” Fangio said. “He’s got to get in great shape, which I think he’s off to a great start here, so we can play him a lot.”

“Football is my job,” Carter said. “I’m ready to play 24/7, just like it was in college. After we won the natty, we had school and then workouts the next week. I can do it all day long.”

They might not need him all day, but in a post-Cox world, Carter taking over on and off the field is what the Eagles envision.