Berman-Wulf emails: Eagles-Jets matchups to watch, injury updates, predictions

Zach Berman and Bo Wulf trade emails each week previewing the Eagles’ upcoming game. Here is the transcript:

Wulf: Zach! 

After much back and forth and solicited input from readers, listeners and strangers, we’ve returned to a back-and-forth email format. I hope you’re happy. 

I’ve just returned from Thursday’s practice and locker room availability, where the injury news for the Eagles is unfortunate. Darius Slay (knee) and Justin Evans (knee) did not practice for the second consecutive day while Jalen Carter was a surprise addition to the list as a non-participant with an ankle injury. I suppose there’s a case to be made that this week, with a bad Jets offense on the horizon, is as good a week as ever to be missing three defensive starters, but that’s probably not the right frame of mind. Without knowing if any of those three are likely to play this weekend – Evans especially seems like a longshot given the size of the knee brace he was wearing – what’s your level of concern here? Sydney Brown and Nakobe Dean were also both limited as they look to return to the lineup. 

Let’s say all three of the aforementioned three are unable to play Sunday, what do you think the defensive lineup would look like? What would have you worried as Sean Desai in the lead-up to late Sunday afternoon? And what would or should he still feel good about? 

Berman: Bo: As you well know, there’s little I seem to do more than solicit feedback and information. So we’re back to emailing…until and unless the feedback suggests otherwise!

We’ll see the injury report on Friday, but if those three you mentioned are out, then two of the replacements seem fairly clear. Josh Jobe would play cornerback in Slay’s place and Milton Williams presumably takes more snaps next to Fletcher Cox. At safety, Terrell Edmunds is next on the depth chart. I’m curious if a healthy Sydney Brown can push for playing time, but my guess is they’d stick with the veteran.

(UPDATE, Saturday 8:00 a.m.: The final injury report came out. Jalen Carter, Darius Slay, Justin Evans, and Quez Watkins are all out. Sydney Brown and Marlon Tuipulotu are questionable.)

The worry for Sean Desai should be stopping the run, which might seem odd considering the Eagles have the NFL’s top-ranked rush defense by limiting opponents to 61.2 yards per game. Then again, they haven’t seen a running back like Breece Hall. The best running back they’ve faced this year is Rhamondre Stevenson. Hall is averaging 7.2 yards per carry, thanks to runs of 83, 72, and 43 yards this season. You can see he’s a big-play back. If he gets past the first level, which is no given considering the way the Eagles’ defensive interior has played, then the back seven must be able to chase and tackle. 

Zach Wilson won’t scare this defense  — the Jets average a league-worst 160.4 yards through the air — although he played well against Kansas City two weeks ago and Garrett Wilson is a high-end receiver if the ball comes in his direction. But the Jets are playing with a patchwork offensive line further weakened by the injury to Alijah Vera-Tucker. The Eagles can pressure Wilson, who was sacked four times by Denver last week and has been sacked at least twice in every game this season. The matchup I’m watching is Haason Reddick against right tackle Max Mitchell. He’s expected to make his first start of the season. Reddick once had five sacks in a game on the MetLife Stadium turf. By the way, if you think the Eagles have red zone woes, look at the Jets. They’re scoring touchdowns on only 30.8 percent of their trips — second-worst in the NFL. 

What about when the Eagles are on the offense — what matchups should they worry about and where do they have the advantage? Also, what’s the “overcorrection” of the week, where they silence questions with a big improvement?

Wulf: This is the fun side of the matchup. The Jets enter the game ranked 13th in defensive EPA per drive and eighth in defensive success rate, which is good but also a little disappointing for a unit with expectations of being a top-five or top-three group entering the season. My personal opinion is the quarterback play has probably not helped. 

Talent-wise, the Jets are loaded everywhere. Quinnen Williams is one of the only defensive tackles in the league who can make a case for being better than Jalen Carter, though his production has dipped just a touch through four games after a season in which he had 12 sacks and 28 quarterback hits. As you pointed out on the show this week, the Eagles can’t exactly afford to give Williams the same snap-to-snap attention they paid Aaron Donald last week because of the quality of the rest of the Jets’ defensive line. Quinton Jefferson is a solid pair at defensive tackle while John Franklin-Myers, Jermaine Johnson, Carl Lawson and Bryce Huff (the league-leader is pressure rate, which is a topic for another day) form an impressive quartet of edge rushers. The Eagles’ roster-building DNA is clear there. The Eagles will feel confident about the matchup from their end because of their faith in the offensive line, but it figures to be where the game is decided to some extent. If the Eagles can stalemate this line of scrimmage, they should be fine. 

C.J. Mosley and Quincy Williams is a great combination of linebackers and Sauce Gardner is one of the league’s best cornerbacks, though he doesn’t typically travel with opposing receivers. I’m eager to see how that affects the Eagles’. plan on offense. Will they proceed as normal or stick to having A.J. Brown lining up on the offense’s left opposite D.J. Reed? If there’s the rabbit-eared correction coming, it’s probably searching for opportunities to get DeVonta Smith the ball early and often. Then we’ll be subjected to sideline shots of Jack Stoll moping around because he hasn’t gotten the ball enough. 

Tell me something interesting you learned at the facility this week. 

Berman: Two things. 

First off, with Nakobe Dean potentially returning this week, I had a chance to catch up with him. Dean explained how he’s never missed any games due to injury in his life, which made the past four weeks abnormal. 

“Man, you just don’t know,” he explained about his excitement in returning. He said he needs to make all sure his movement and ability to “strike guys” is at an acceptable level to return.

“They wouldn’t be pushing me to practice if I wasn’t (ready),” Dean said.

Nick Sirianni made a point of noting how Dean traveled to away games while he was injured, which doesn’t always happen. Dean made it seem as if it’s almost an insult to consider otherwise.

“Not only was it because it’s all I know, but because I wanted to stay with the team,” Dean said. “When I believe it’s our defense, it’s the defense I’m a part of, I believe I’m a part of it. It’s my job. So I’m coming here going through every single meeting, going through the game plan, watching all the film.”

It was also interesting to hear Sirianni’s perspective on the spirited sideline conversations caught on the television cameras during games. My view: that’s not a bad thing, because it shows competitiveness and passion. That’s far better than apathy. Composure is nice, but these are football games and high-pressure situations, and it’s fine to have animated discussions so long as they’re productive. Sirianni said that he might as well coach in the press box if he needs to harness emotions. 

“I don’t think I can myself be animated on the sideline and then ask anybody else not to be,” Sirianni said. “I think that’s part of the game. Emotion is part of the game. Getting to the root of the problem is part of the game. Just like you have a way to have a coaching point it’s sometimes going to be delivered with a smack on the butt and sometimes it’s going to be delivered with a yell or whatever it is. Same way it can happen with animation on the sideline, right? And so, to me, that’s healthy. When you’re connected and together, the only thing that matters is that we’re getting better from it.”

OK, let’s get to predictions. Do the Eagles make it 6-0?

Wulf: I’ve made some immediately-regretted predictions in my day, but even I can’t imagine predicting Zach Wilson of all quarterbacks (the worst in the league over the past three seasons by EPA per dropback) being the one to end the longest active streak of head-to-head domination in American sports. The injuries on defense worry me, and I think Quinnen Williams will probably be more of a factor than Aaron Donald was last week, but the disparity at the most important position is too great. Eagles 23, Jets 14

Berman: Before the season, I had the Eagles starting 5-0 before losing this game. Before the season, I also thought Aaron Rodgers would play this game. Without Rodgers, this is a different Jets team. The Eagles played their best game of the season last week and I think that’s a sign of what’s to come. The Jets defense will make it tough, but there’s a reason why the Eagles are seven-point road favorites. The Eagles win the turnover battle, the defense totals five sacks, and the offense does enough to keep a decent margin. They advance to 6-0, and the excitement builds for next week’s game against Miami. Eagles 24, Jets 17