Slimmed Down Eagles Defensive Star Was Silver Lining Of Week 1 Adversity

Jalen Carter’s ejection in the Eagles’ season-opening win over Dallas generated the obvious headlines.

It also obfuscated the silver lining. Down nearly 30 pounds, fourth-year defensive tackle Jordan Davis put together one of his best games as a professional, showing off his improved conditioning and what that means for his bottom line.

Davis played a career-high 87% of the defensive snaps against the Cowboys and was a menace on the defensive front throughout for Philadelphia in the 24-20 win.

Known as a top-tier run-stuffer, Davis was able to keep his technique sharp throughout the contest. In past years, when the 6-foot-6 Georgia product was carrying extra weight, he would often find it more difficult to stay under the pads of shorter offensive linemen when the reps started to accumulate.

"It’s what we worked for," Davis said of his conditioning after practice on Wednesday. "We’re going out here, making the necessary changes. It’s been in the works for a long time coming since the middle of last season, so for ya’ll to see what’s going on and the trust they have in me. Just being out there, I’m ready for whenever my name’s called."

Davis also flashed a better pass-rushing toolbox that would have generated more recognition had he finished a potential sack of Dak Prescott.

“You can’t think about the ones you didn’t get because you didn’t get them, but you have to think about the ones that could come,” Davis said. “So, it’s about looking into the future, looking forward. If you live in the past, if you dwell in the past, you won’t see anything going forward.”

Overall, Davis graded out as the 18th-best DT in the NFL during Week 1 by Pro Football Focus.

“I’d say good,” Davis said when asked how he thought he performed. “We’re always in the business for asking for more. What you do last week is last week. We’re on to next week. I can’t be milling around and thinking about what happened and what’s gonna happen next, but at the end of the day, I’m proud of the guys responding and how we did. 

“It was a little shaky in the first half, but that’s the first game. It could be a lot of things, the jitters, whatever, but in the end we locked in the second half, got together and pulled out the dub.”

The “lot of things” started with Carter getting dismissed before the first defensive snap for spitting on Prescott. 

In a very young room, Davis is considered the de facto leader and a sounding board for his teammate, dating back to Georgia.

“He knows,” Davis said of Carter. “It’s more an understanding that he comes away with. He’s like ‘I made a dumb decision, it won’t happen again.’

“We believe that, we hold that. I know everybody on the D-line, we don’t look at it like it was a problem or anything. It was just unfortunate the way it happened. He came to us, he apologized. You don’t really need an apology on the D-line, we know what’s going on, and we’re gonna pick up the slack for him. At the end of the day, I’m sure he felt like crap. Anybody would feel like crap when leave the team out like that. At the end of the day, he’s gonna make up for it, I know he will.”