The Philadelphia Eagles got little push from their defensive line in an epic Monday night collapse against the Atlanta Falcons. It turns out the Eagles were also missing arguably the best piece of that line to open the Week 2 contest, with defensive tackle Jalen Carter benched for the opening series in a disciplinary move, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Carter, 23, was "late for something team-related" in the week leading up to Monday's game, per Jeff McLane. The 2023 first-round draft pick ended up taking 45 snaps, or nearly 78% of the Eagles' defensive plays, but was not on the field for Atlanta's opening drive, which ended with a punt.
That's almost exactly the same amount of snaps Carter took in Week 1, when the Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers in Vic Fangio's first game as the team's new defensive coordinator.
Carter finished Monday night with just one tackle, as Philadelphia surrendered a six-play, 70-yard game-winning touchdown drive to the Falcons in the final minute of the game.
He reportedly faced questions about his work ethic coming out of Georgia, prior to the Eagles selecting him No. 9 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. Prior to Monday's benching, however, he'd only drawn praise internally, fresh off a promising rookie season that saw him log six sacks and eight tackles for loss on the interior.
