DETROIT — The Eagles were gashed in the run game on Sunday afternoon in their 38-35 win. The Lions had 181 yards on the ground and averaged 6.5 yards per carry. D’Andre Swift had 144 yards and averaged 9.6.
If only the Eagles traded up in the first round to draft the best run-stuffing defensive tackle in college football.
Oh wait! They did! And Davis played just 22 snaps (32%) in the opener despite being effective against the run.
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SIGN UP HERE He played the fewest snaps of the Eagles’ five defensive tackles:
Fletcher Cox: 39 snaps (57%)
Javon Hargrave: 38 snaps (55%)
Milton Williams: 33 snaps (48%)
Marlon Tuipulotu: 29 snaps (42%)
Jordan Davis: 22 snaps (32%)
So Tuipulotu, a sixth-round pick from a year ago, had seven more defensive snaps than Davis. That’s not a shot at Tuipulotu, who had the biggest pressure in the game to force the pick-6. But it’s surprising to see Davis play so little.
A big storyline around Davis this offseason was about his conditioning and whether or not he’d be able to play more in the NFL than he did at the college level. After Sunday’s game, he said he felt good.
NFL
“We rotate, so it’s good,” Davis said. “Same thing at Georgia. At Georgia we rotated, here we rotate. Whenever my number is called, I know I’m ready. Obviously as you go on you’re going to feel a little bit tired but that’s the game, right? Everybody’s tired. Conditioning-wise, I feel great.”
Put this on the long list of questions for defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon on Tuesday.
Other defensive notes:
• Marcus Epps and T.J. Edwards did not leave the field, playing all 69 snaps.
• Despite arriving 11 days earlier, C.J. Gardner-Johnson played 67 of 69 snaps. He was active.
• Rookie linebacker Nakobe Dean played just three snaps. We knew he was behind Edwards and Kyzir White but thought he’d maybe get mixed in a little more.
Full defensive snap counts:
Offensive notes:
• The entire OL and Jalen Hurts played all 77 snaps. That’s always a beautiful thing.
• DeVonta Smith led the receivers with 74 snaps, followed by A.J. Brown (67), Quez Watkins (41) and Zach Pascal (17). It looked like the Eagles were getting Pascal out there on third downs.
• Miles Sanders led the way for the running backs with 40 snaps, followed by Kenny Gainwell (23) and Boston Scott (14). Good rotation here. Gainwell got work in the 2-minute offense.
• The Eagles used a good bit of 12 personnel (two tight ends) on Sunday. Dallas Goedert played 71 snaps, followed by Jack Stoll (28) and Noah Togiai (11).
Full offensive snap counts:
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