Eagles’ Jalen Carter has much at stake this season: ‘God put him on this earth to be a mean football player’

Jalen Carter can’t help but stand out on the football field, but Nakobe Dean first noticed Carter, then a Georgia freshman, on a basketball court — in bare feet.

“He came in and I was going into my sophomore year,” Dean said recently. “We was all at this little apartment complex. They had a basketball court. And J.C. and my old roommate just started jawing at each other about sports and being more athletic.

“I just remember it being like 10 o’clock at night and driving to the basketball court. Got no lights. We’ve got to turn on our high beams. And they played one-on-one, barefoot.”

Like with no shoes on?

“I had slides on,” Carter said. “I kept slipping out of the slides, so I took them off.”

Trezmen Marshall, a Bulldogs linebacker like Dean, was Carter’s opposition even though he was around two inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter. He could shoot from outside, though, while the then-6-foot-3, 280-pound defensive tackle preferred to score in the post.

“I played growing up, and I always got the confidence for anything, soccer, whatever,” Carter told The Inquirer on Monday. “When I had the ball and I was backing him down, it was really like we got shoulder pads on, just hitting each other. Like it was going hard, for sure.”

They went back and forth, back and forth, and back and forth, Dean said. He couldn’t recall who prevailed. (Carter said Marshall did “because I wasn’t calling any fouls.”) But the memory that stayed with Dean — other than the unusual circumstances surrounding the impromptu bout — was the spectacle of Carter.

It wasn’t just that he compensated for his lack of touch with freakish strength and agility. It was that he competed with both ferocity and playfulness — or at least it appeared that way.

“It was intense,” Dean said. “Like, I don’t think they could have got into fight, but they could have got into a fight. But I just remember it being hysterical because it was kind of our first introduction to J.C. I didn’t even know him. I just knew he was a new recruit.

“But we was all there watching.”

Five years later, all eyes remain on Carter. He is the Eagles’ linchpin. The straw that stirs their defense. But for all he has accomplished in just his first two NFL seasons, the 24-year-old seemingly has not yet reached his ceiling.

The Eagles don’t necessarily need him to top out this season. But much of their success will hinge on Carter’s playmaking and the attention he draws away from his fellow D-linemen.

When the switch goes off — a phrasing teammates used to describe his on-field transformation — there aren’t many who can block him. Eagles center Cam Jurgens had his share of battles with Carter during training camp.

“When he’s angry, you know he’s playing extra hard,” Jurgens said. “It’s fun because you work on your technique and your game, and you need players like that on your team. He brings a certain type of edge where we wouldn’t be the same without him.”

When asked about that presence, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio objected to the word used by a questioner to describe Carter.

“I don’t know that nastiness is the right word,” Fangio said Monday. “That kind of invokes Conrad Dobler-type stuff.”

Dobler, a Pro Bowl guard from the 1970s, once was labeled “Pro Football’s Dirtiest Player” on a Sports Illustrated cover. Carter doesn’t quite have that reputation. But he is known for playing mean. The Eagles want that passion. They also want it channeled in a constructive direction.

“I just think he has to play with the right mindset to reach his potential or come close to reaching his potential,” Fangio said. “He’s just got to be on top of the details, play with great effort, and be focused.”

The same could be said of most players. But most don’t have Carter’s talent, and most aren’t on the precipice of becoming one of the highest-paid defensive players of all time. He is headed in that direction.

The Eagles will likely want to extend Carter’s contract next offseason, when he is eligible. There’s still a season to play, but general manager Howie Roseman’s handling of the salary cap this year prepared for that inevitability.

It looms over how the ninth overall draft pick in 2023 will perform in his third season, but also how the Eagles approach the short term of trying to defend a championship with long-term sustainability.

“Jalen’s shown how dominating he can be as a player,” Roseman said last week. “When you have that guy and when offensive linemen are sliding to that guy, it creates opportunities for the guys playing next to him. You have to account for him. If you’re going to block him one-on-one, he’s got a great chance to win those matchups.

“I mean, he’s that kind of player, and he’s a special player.”

Special, as in Aaron Donald, Warren Sapp special. Fletcher Cox special. Those are lofty comparisons — and maybe not fair — and mean little if Carter levels off. He wrecked a few games last season. But he’s still learning the finer points of his position. He’s still maturing.

Two years ago, Carter struggled adjusting to the NFL workweek. He petered out down the stretch, and conditioning or a lack thereof was cited as a possible reason. For a prospect with predraft concerns about his practice habits, it warranted monitoring.

There were other off-field issues that caused Carter to slip in the draft. But he mostly has done all the Eagles have asked of him, except for a few minor incidents.

It took a while for some in the organization to understand that football is his refuge. That is why, Carter said, his demeanor on the field can be misinterpreted. Just as Dean initially wasn’t sure what to make of him on the basketball court — is he having fun or is he just ticked off? — it can be difficult to interpret his actions.

“It’s also just a thing I learned with life. Not everything is going to go your way,” Carter said. “You just got to keep a smile and keep it positive. You don’t want to do something bad and then just think bad for the rest of the day. You know, try to do something that [will] change your whole mind, change your whole mood, to make everything positive for the rest of the day.

“So I go out there, play football, whatever, somebody might get hurt, or I’m out there trying my hardest and I might be embarrassing them. I’m trying to get to a point where it’s like I’m playing with a smile on my face.”

Any time that he kind of gets on that mean streak, he’s a game wrecker. He’s the kind of guy you don’t want to give any extra fuel to or he’ll destroy an entire game.”

Ty Robinson admitted that he might have been intimidated by the idea of first meeting Carter. The rookie had only seen him play on television or knew him by reputation. Gabe Hall and Byron Young, young defensive tackles who spent last season on the Eagles practice squad and injured reserve, said they had similar experiences.

“You hear stories like the way he plays the game and flips that switch,” Robinson said. “But you don’t really get to hear how he is off the field. I mean, he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met in the room. He wasn’t afraid to take me under his wing or give me advice.”

But when Carter is between the lines, he can transform into a not-so-nice guy. Sometimes it takes prodding. Jurgens said a hand to the neck may set him off. During one practice late in camp, the bear was poked. Carter responded with a hand to Jurgens’ helmet, while guard Brett Toth caught shrapnel.

“Any time that he kind of gets on that mean streak, he’s a game-wrecker,” Toth said. “He’s the kind of guy you don’t want to give any extra fuel to or he’ll destroy an entire game.”

The Eagles want Carter engaged, but they don’t want him enraged. He missed the first week of camp with a shoulder injury but mixed it up with the offense from the sideline. When he returned, he exchanged trash talk with running back Saquon Barkley.

During his first joint practices as a rookie, Carter flexed his muscles at the Cleveland Browns and got into a few scrums with the Indianapolis Colts. This summer, there were no such demonstrations or confrontations. He said it illustrated his behavioral evolution.

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“I used to go out there mad, like, ‘Let’s go! Let’s go!’” Carter said. “But I want to calm myself down, make a play, and then on to the next play.”

Dean and Jordan Davis, another former Bulldogs defensive tackle, are considered the teammates to whom Carter listens the most. They can get him locked back in when he may become undisciplined or lose focus.

But Dean said he also doesn’t want Carter to be someone he isn’t. Robinson said few players have a comparable temperament.

“I think it’s just in his DNA,” Robinson said. “God put him on this earth to be a mean football player.”

In June, former Eagle Jeremiah Trotter said on WIP-FM that he had heard from sources inside the NovaCare Complex that Carter “doesn’t even know how to play the position. He’s just playing off of raw talent.”

Trotter’s comments weren’t meant to disparage. Fangio said he agreed with the sentiment.

“The good news about Jalen is twofold,” Fangio said in June. “One, he played very well for us last year, and two, he can still improve a lot.”

Clint Hurtt wasn’t as blunt when asked about Carter’s ceiling. The assistant coach was brought in two years ago partly because it was believed his no-nonsense ways would get the most out of a young group of defensive linemen.

“I don’t want to put a cap on what I think he will be, or whatever, because no matter what, you’ve got to go out there and go earn it,” Hurtt said of Carter. He added: “But sometimes when we have accolades and whatnot, we feel like a guy’s already gotten there when there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

“And he knows that, and he’s working toward that now.”

Carter was named a second-team All-Pro and to the Pro Bowl, even though he did not post eye-popping sack numbers. His 4½ sacks ranked 17th among defensive tackles. He finished first in tackles for loss and sixth in quarterback hits, though, and may have led the league in facing double teams.

Hurtt declined to offer much on areas in which Carter can improve. His missed tackle rate, according to Pro Football Focus, was 12th worst among qualifying defensive tackles, but that may be a more subjective stat than most.

The Eagles may want more versatility in terms of where he lines up. Carter was on the left side for 93% of his snaps last season. He said he was working on moves from the right. If there’s a more even distribution, it will make it that much harder to prepare for him.

Carter already rarely takes a rest. Last season, he played 84% of downs on defense — second only to the Broncos’ Zach Allen among NFL defensive tackles. It’s possible he plays more this season. In the playoffs, he was up to 90% until he was pulled late in blowout wins over the Washington Commanders and Kansas City Chiefs in the NFC championship game and the Super Bowl.

“To much is given, much is required,” Hurtt said. “He’s ready to go. He can handle it.”

Carter said he has heard the outside praise and chatter about expectations, but that it’s nothing new for the native of Apopka, Fla.

“Not being cocky, but I always felt I had a role of being that guy,” Carter said. “Ever since I was with my coaches when I was little, they told me. My family told me. In college, they told me. And right now you tell me, so it’s always been there.

“But I’ve just got to keep being consistent. Keep learning from our coaches.”

Carter may be as young as any of the Eagles’ other defensive tackles, but the team has asked him to assume more of a leadership role with the departures of Cox and Milton Williams over the last two offseasons.

That may include becoming more vocal, helping the newer D-tackles, or injecting energy into practice. Dean said Carter talking more about his in-game preferences reflected a growing confidence. Robinson said he has set standards and doesn’t want to let Carter down.

“He’s not afraid of confrontation,” Robinson said.

Even with his head coach. Last September, Carter had to be held back from taunting the New Orleans Saints by coach Nick Sirianni, Eagles chief security officer Dom DiSandro, and Hurtt. Three months later, Hurtt and DiSandro stopped Sirianni in his tracks as he chastised his player for committing a personal foul against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The two hugged it out on the sideline afterward, but the reason Sirianni was held back was “for his own protection,” a team source later said.

But the Eagles apparently have not coddled the star. When Carter was late for a team meeting before the Atlanta Falcons game last season, he didn’t start or play on the opening drive.

“They’re not like, ‘He’s special, he can get away with this,’” Carter said. “We get our fines; we get our punishments if you’re late or anything like that. We get handled. [We’re] all grown men. It’s not college. We don’t got our moms over our back.”

Naturally, franchise cornerstones are treated differently. But just like the Eagles wanting to see Davis improve his conditioning this offseason before picking up his $13 million fifth-year option for 2026, they want Carter to show maturity ahead of what could be a cap-altering extension.

His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, was at camp in early August. He has other clients with the Eagles and his pit stop in Philadelphia wasn’t abnormal. He also wanted to check on Carter’s shoulder, according to NFL sources, which popped up again on this week’s injury report.

But Rosenhaus, who went on HBO’s Real Sports before the 2023 draft to defend Carter after the reckless driving and racing incident Carter was involved in resulted in two deaths, will be front and center when Roseman wants to negotiate.

Micah Parsons’ record-setting four-year, $188 million contract that he signed with the Green Bay Packers last week may be the bar. Carter said he hasn’t thought about his contract.

“If I’m playing good,” he said, “all that will fall into place.”

Carter, meanwhile, recently moved from downtown Philly to South Jersey. He said he got tired of the spotlight and of pictures being taken of him and posted on social media. He said he also wanted a yard for his French bulldog, Eight.

Carter wore No. 88 in college when he first got the pup.

“He’s the third eight,” he said. “Look up what ‘888’ means.”

It can be interpreted several ways, but the most prominent meaning for 888 is a symbol of abundance in terms of impending financial success and prosperity.