Philadelphia Eagles assistant coach Matt Patricia stands with general manager Howie Roseman. Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Eagles quietly made major change to defensive staff

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated 12/17/23

The Philadelphia Eagles quietly made a significant change within their coaching staff ahead of Week 15.

Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported on Sunday that defensive coordinator Sean Desai was demoted following last week’s 33-13 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Defensive assistant Matt Patricia has taken over for Desai and will be on the sideline calling plays during Monday night’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.

The Eagles have a major change on defense this week: @JayGlazer lets us know that Matt Patricia will now be running the Eagles defense pic.twitter.com/Kk9O13lHTz

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 17, 2023

NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport added that Desai is still technically the defensive coordinator in Philly, but Patricia has taken over play-calling duties. Desai will move from the sideline to the coaches box.

Philadelphia’s defense has been torched over the last three weeks, so it is no shock that head coach Nick Sirianni felt a change was needed. The Eagles allowed 33 points to Dallas last week, 42 to the San Francisco 49ers the week before that and 34 points to the Buffalo Bills three weeks ago.

Patricia spent last season as the de facto offensive coordinator in New England, but most of his coaching background is on defense. He was the defensive coordinator in his first stint with the Patriots before he left to become the head coach of the Detroit Lions, so he has plenty of experience in that role.

The Eagles are still 10-3 despite losing their past two games. They need to get their defense fixed quickly if they want to make another deep playoff run.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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