Haason Reddick is seeing more coverage snaps under Matt Patricia: ‘I’m willing to do it’ to win

Throughout his seven-year NFL career, edge rusher Haason Reddick has experienced his fair share of coaching changes at the top.

In six of his seven seasons spent with the Arizona Cardinals (2017-2020), the Carolina Panthers (2021), and now the Eagles (since 2022), Reddick, 29, has had to adjust to either a new head coach or a new defensive coordinator or both.

An in-season coordinator change, however, is a first for Reddick. On Thursday, four days removed from the defense’s porous performance against the Cardinals in a 35-31 upset loss, Reddick didn’t sugarcoat the challenges of the team switching defensive play-calling duties from Sean Desai to Matt Patricia in Week 15.

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“It’s a hard thing to do,” Reddick said. “But it’s our job at the end of the day. So there’s no complaints about it. But yes, that was definitely a hard thing, right?

“You spent so much time with one DC, and learning a new DC at that, at the beginning of the year, and trying to learn everything that he wants us to do, his terminology, the way that he calls things. And then, towards the end of the season, we switch.

“But, like I said, at the end of the day, it must get done. That’s what the higher-ups here felt was needed to get done in order to try to make a change and get some things corrected. So as players, we know we’ve got to go out there and do our best to perform.”

The Eagles had one of their worst defensive performances of the season as a group, conceding touchdowns on four straight drives in the second half to allow the Cardinals to come back from a 21-6 halftime deficit.

The Cardinals did plenty of damage in the run game, racking up 40 carries for 221 yards and a touchdown, more rushing yards than the Eagles had allowed since 2016.

The Cardinals had a strong day passing, too, avoiding being one-dimensional. Quarterback Kyler Murray hit on 80.65% of his attempts (25-of-31), which is the best completion percentage the Eagles have allowed this season.

Reddick said some of those defensive issues were attributable to the change in coordinators and to Patricia’s new ideas for the scheme.

”They got a different style, a different way they want things done,” Reddick said. “And that’s pretty much what it is.

“Patricia is in there now. He has a certain way that he would like things to be done. And we’re doing our best to adapt it in this time period that we have and trying to get everybody on the same page moving forward. That way, we can be great in the playoffs.”

One of those ideas involved using edge defenders, including Reddick, in coverage. When the Eagles fielded packages of five down linemen and one off-ball linebacker, the Cardinals matched them with formations that the edge rushers to move off the line of scrimmage and into coverage.

According to Pro Football Focus, Reddick dropped into coverage seven times, which was his most in a game as an Eagle.

In turn, Reddick had only 23 pass-rush snaps, resulting in one pressure. In total, a group of edge rushers including Reddick, Brandon Graham, Nolan Smith, and Josh Sweat dropped into coverage 12 times. The defense as a whole generated 15 pressures, which is off their season average of 20.7 pressures per game. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter notched the Eagles’ lone sack.

“Right, now we’re just trying to get things done to win a game,” Reddick said of his use in coverage against the Cardinals. . “I’m just doing what’s asked of me at the end of the day and trying to help the team win in whatever way we can win. So if that’s what it calls for, I mean, I’m willing to do it.

“I’m going to go out there, do what’s required of me. … Hopefully, that plan works and that’s what was needed, that’ll be what’s needed to get done, in order for us to win.”

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When asked how his skillset could be maximized, Reddick said, “I think that’d be a conversation for another time.” For now, Reddick is focused on making the necessary corrections to finish out the season on a high note against the New York Giants on Sunday before the playoffs begin.

“It’s there,” Reddick said. “It’s on the tape. We know what it is. It’s just up to us to get it corrected at the end of the day. It’s the want-to. It’s the willingness and at the end of the day, it’s knowing what we’re playing for, right?

“No matter what we’re seeded, our destiny is still right in front of us, right? We still control everything. We just got to take this thing one game at a time, one day at a time, until it’s all over.”