How a friendly offseason wager with Vic Fangio transformed Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter
After a season where his injuries did him no favors in the conditioning department, Carter was challenged by his defensive coordinator.
Believe it or not, Jalen Carter’s biggest offseason distraction was not his contract situation or rehabbing the injuries that plagued him in 2025.
It was the friendly wager he had with Vic Fangio.
“Me and Coach Vic had a little thing going where he wanted me to come in at a certain amount of weight, and I made that weight,” said Carter, who is listed at 6-foot-3, 314 pounds but noted that he’s down 10 pounds since last season. “That also shows that the contract extension wasn’t my biggest focus. My biggest focus was putting a smile on Coach Vic’s face. … And he was happy and we dapped up and we hugged it out.”
Ten days into Eagles training camp, observers can see how this body transformation is helping the two-time Pro Bowler return to form. Carter, 25, looks as dominant as ever entering his fourth season. He consistently blasts through the Eagles’ interior offensive line to create pressure on quarterback Jalen Hurts and he even outraced all defensive linemen in sprints on Tuesday.
This certainly wasn’t the case last season. In 2025, Carter generated a career-low 7.7% pressure rate while facing a double-team on a career-low 41.7% of his pass rushes, according to Next Gen Stats. This came after a wildly successful 2024 season, during which he played 79.4% of the defensive snaps and was a key contributor in Super Bowl LIX.
So, how did this change come to be? Carter attributes his weight-loss journey to fewer “big daddy meals” — which he said is when you “just fill the plate up” — and cutting out Minute Maid brand blue raspberry juice.
How, exactly, has a slimmer frame helped Carter in the early days of camp?
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“I just feel better out there,” he said. “Getting out of the stacks feels much better, especially with what I was going through last year with the shoulders and all that. Everything just feels good right now.”
Getting Carter back to peak form is excellent news for an Eagles team that’s built around a tough defensive front. With Carter, Jordan Davis, and Moro Ojomo all looking sharp in camp, the Eagles should have one of the top defensive tackle rooms in the NFL in 2026.
Carter’s transformation even drew public praise from Fangio, who rarely goes out of his way to dish out compliments.
“[Carter has] had a good offseason of lifting,” Fangio said. “I think he started that earlier than normal for him and you can see the difference in that regard. I think he’s in a better spot now than he was.”
The next challenge for Carter is making sure he can stay locked in mentally. The Patriots are hosting the Eagles in a joint practice ahead of their preseason game on Aug. 22, which could lead to tempers flaring between the two clubs. When asked how he can stay composed, Carter said he’ll try his best.
“If I was to get into any altercations, I don’t try to start them, I just finish them,” he said with a wry smirk. “I think I pretty much know the lines. … There’s really ain’t too much I can do. You know, it’s football.
“It’s definitely fighting, that’s the main thing: We don’t want to fight. We want to get contact, get aggressive and all this, but fighting is the last thing we want.”
Earlier this year, the scenario seemed far-fetched, especially after the Eagles used a second-round draft pick on a tight end. Zach Ertz overcoming a serious injury to make a nostalgic return? It just didn’t feel like a possibility. Then rookie Eli Stowers got hurt in the preseason, and starter Dallas Goedert went down Week 2 vs. Tennessee. All of a sudden, the Eagles had a need. Now, the 35-year old Ertz has been tapped to fill it. The Inquirer's Jeff McLane explains how an unlikely reunion between Ertz and the Eagles came together, why both sides are hoping for more than a feel-good story, and which player on the roster could be affected by this move the most. Listen here.
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