PHILADELPHIA — Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter let his teammates down on Thursday night.
Before the first play of Philadelphia’s 24-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys, Carter was ejected for spitting on quarterback Dak Prescott, leaving Philadelphia’s defense shorthanded. Dallas took advantage of Carter’s absence and scored 20 points in the first half.
The Eagles rebounded from their struggles and pitched a shutout in the second half. But it doesn’t erase the fact that Carter put them in a bad position.
“It was a mistake I had on my side,” Carter said about the incident. “It just won’t happen again. I feel bad for just my teammates and the fans out there. I’m doing it for them. I’m doing it for my family also. ... Just not being able to start the game (or) finish the game just (expletive) me up.”
Carter watched the entire game from the locker room, wishing he could be out there. His teammates wished that, too. He’s the engine on defense, and any time he’s off the field, the Eagles’ defensive line is weaker.
After the game, Carter promised his teammates that he would never act like that again.
There was a mix of reactions from teammates.
“The spitting thing. I pray it’s not true,” cornerback Adoree’ Jackson said. “Spitting in general and doing it on somebody, that (expletive) ain’t cool. I don’t know the man as a person. I just hope that’s not what he did.”
Other players had a more positive spin.
“Obviously, you don’t want to see that,” Eagles safety Reed Blankenship said. “It’s something we will talk about. But at the end of the day, you can’t hold people back like that. I mean, it’s an emotional game, and you can only say so much. I know he’s going to do what’s right next time, and I have complete faith in him.”
Carter plays with intensity, which is also a curse. Nobody wants that area of his game to change. He just needs to be smarter.
“That brings energy for our defense, too, so we need that,” cornerback Cooper DeJean said. “But we need him out there on the field as well. I have no doubt he’s going to come back and keep his energy high and have a great season for us.”
Standing at his locker, defensive tackle Moro Ojomo leaned over to Carter’s stall and offered encouragement before reporters pressed Carter.
“Jalen is a part of us,” Ojomo said. “So we’re never going to push our brother down. We’re never going to put him down. He did something, and he’ll learn from his mistakes, and we move on.”
Prescott provoked Carter by spitting into the ground first, and Carter took the bait. The NFL could further punish Carter with a suspension for Philadelphia’s Week 2 game against the Chiefs. Best-case scenario, he receives a huge fine and doesn’t get suspended.
“... At the same time, there’s a sense of accountability and everything, and I know (Jalen Carter) he’s done that, and so it’s just something that we all can learn from, right?” Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “An unwise man will make a mistake and not look back on it and learn from it. So you have to look at those things and be able to take something away from it, and we will.”
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Cayden Steele may be reached atCSteele@njadvancemedia.com
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