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The future of the Philadelphia Eagles defensive line was on display last Sunday in a 37-34 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills with rookie Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis playing a career-high in snaps.
That future for the rookie Carter and second-year Davism the team's first-round picks in each of the past two NFL drafts, may be now, as the 10-1 Eagles prepare to play the 8-3 San Francisco 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday (4:25 p.m./FOX).
The Eagles may be without star veteran defensive tackle Fletcher Cox for a second time this season, but the way Davis and Carter upped their game against Buffalo while both playing a career-high in snaps bodes well for the present and future.
Granted, there were plenty of reps to go around since the game went to OT. Also, Cox departed with a groin injury in the first half after 22 snaps and Milton Williams was unavailable for the game due to a concussion. Williams, though, is expected to play on Sunday after being a full participant in Thursday’s practice.
Carter played 80 percent of the snaps (76) while Davis played 65 percent (62) against the Bills.
“I feel good,” said Carter days after playing that many snaps and making four tackles, including one for loss, with a blocked field goal attempt. “I really didn’t know how many snaps I played until after the game, but if I have to play that many snaps, I’m going to do that.
“In college, I had some guys in front of me – JD, Devonte Wyatt, Travon Walker, and all them guys – so my snaps were limited. But if I gotta play a certain amount of snaps, I’m going to play those snaps.”
As for Davis, he entered the league last year with questions about his conditioning. If he hadn’t done so already, he buried them on Sunday.
He may have played the best game of his career and stood tall in overtime, making three stops on first-down running plays in the extra session before adding the cherry on top by running down quarterback Josh Allen to the sideline and holding him to just four yards. This set up a 3rd and 6, but the Bills couldn’t convert and settled for a field goal.
The play helped the Eagles win with their OT possession.
While running down Allen, Davis, who is 6-6, 340-ish ponds, was clocked at 16.96 miles per hour by Next Gen stats.
“It was like a now or never moment,” said Davis. “I didn’t see anybody out of my peripheral. It was just me and him. We needed to get off the field as fast as we could. I’ll try to move faster next time, if I can. I was gassed, though. I laid there and had to take a little break. I think the whole defense needed that one.”
Asked if he had ever run that fast, Davis said, “Yeah, at the Combine.”
Carter, who played with Davis at the University of Georgia, said that Davis is just being modest about his speed.
“JD’s fast,” said Carter. “I really think right now, he might be faster than me. I think he is faster than me. That boy’s fast.”
Davis made five tackles, one short of the career-high six he had in the season opener at the New England Patriots.
“This is what we work for, this is what we build ourselves up for, for situations like this – plus,” said Davis about working overtime last week. “We want to make sure we’re able to go that long, however long the game may last.
"But at the end of the day, we hope we’re never in a situation where we go to overtime, but if we go to overtime, make sure we’re prepared and ready.”
The game against the 49ers could also require OT given how both rosters possess talent galore.
One matchup that could favor the Eagles is their defensive front against San Francisco’s offensive line, which has star Trent Williams at left tackle, but question marks everywhere else.
“We just gotta be more physical up front,” said Carter, “more connected and execute our plays."
More must-reads:
- Chiefs move on from young running back
- The worst NFL teams from the 1980s
- The 'Super Bowl starting QBs' quiz
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