Before the first play from scrimmage, the Philadelphia Eagles lost the services of star defensive lineman Jalen Carter in Thursday night’s season opener against the Dallas Cowboys. NBC play-by-play man Mike Tirico broke down what happened, while color commentator Cris Collinsworth discussed the impact of Carter’s loss to both the Eagles and the night’s broadcast.
Philadelphia fullback Ben VanSumeren was injured on the game’s opening kickoff. While VanSumeren was being tended to, the Cowboys offense and Eagles defense took the field, awaiting the first series of the game. While that was happening, Carter walked close to the Dallas huddle and soon got face-to-face with Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. While it initially looked like nothing more than a war of words, there was more to it. A flag was thrown and it was announced that Carter had been ejected from the game.
“Whoa. Whoa. So Jalen Carter, the focus and the star for the Eagles on the front line, out for the game before a snap,” Tirico said. A replay soon showed what happened.
“Here he goes, he walks there, in front of Dak Prescott,” Tirico added. “Did he spit? Did he spit on him? I think he did. There you go. There you go. And the official was right there to throw the flag.”
Eagles star Jalen Carter is ejected from the NFL season opener before there’s a play from scrimmage.
Mike Tirico: “WHOA! WHOA!… Did he spit? Did he spit on [Dak Prescott]? I think he did. There you go.”
Cris Collinsworth: “You just can’t believe what you just saw.” 🏈🎙️ #NFL pic.twitter.com/hDvGUVQBgU
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 5, 2025
Collinsworth then discussed what Carter’s loss means on the field while also detailing how he was expected to be an integral part of the night’s commentary.
“I gotta tell you, he’s the best player they have on their defense and about 80% of what we were gonna talk about on this broadcast,” Collinsworth said. “Because to beat the Philadelphia Eagles, you have to double-team Jalen Carter. If you don’t, you don’t get your offense started. Now you take off that one player on the defense that you had to focus your attention on. And it’s almost like Micah Parsons now gone from the Cowboys. Same impact now with Jalen Carter gone.”
To be fair, Carter still might be the talking point of 80% of the broadcast, just not in the way anybody expected.