Jalen Carter gets ‘a little thud’ on Saquon Barkley in a friendly battle at Eagles training camp
The third-year defensive tackle aims to up his game with a good-natured rivalry with Barkley. He also wants to be more vocal in leading a young Eagles defense.
When it comes to upping the intensity of Eagles training camp, Saquon Barkley may have met his match in Jalen Carter.
The pair of Eagles stars, each of whom spent most of last season as the driving force for their respective side of the ball, have mirrored each other in some ways this summer with standout plays and a steady stream of well-meaning trash talk.
And when the young defensive tackle met Barkley in the hole on two separate occasions during Friday’s team sessions, he made sure to let the running back know he wouldn’t have made it far in a live tackling scenario.
“It’s just friendly competition,” Carter explained Sunday after practice. “That’s what I like, having a little energy in practice. I know we can’t hit each other, we don’t want to hurt each other or anything like that, but just getting a little thud on him to let him know I was there, stuff like that. It’s a friendly competition.”
Carter enters his third season with the Eagles well aware of the influence he has on a young nucleus of defensive teammates and the expectation that he will use that influence to set the tone for the group.
Even when he started training camp sidelined with a shoulder injury, Carter said he was intentional about going through parts of the defensive conditioning regimen with his teammates as a way to encourage the group. And now that he’s back on the field during team drills, he’s making sure to up the competitiveness with some well-timed words for his offensive teammates.
“I’m just trying to bring more energy,” Carter said. “Our group is young. Like, literally the whole defense, we’re young, so we all just have to feed off of each other. ... I did it two years ago, but it was more quiet. Two years ago I was a rookie, and they don’t want to hear too much out of a rookie. But when you’re playing good, you’re good. They told me I would have to speak up a good amount, the players, coaches, everybody. It’s that time.”
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“I don’t have to yell or have veins coming out of my face,” Carter added. “But I’m going to say something to try to get us all with the energy.”
To Carter’s point, the Eagles will have one of the youngest defensive units in the NFL this season with him at the center of things. Depending on position battles at cornerback and safety, there’s a chance up to 10 players in the starting base defense in Week 1 could be 25 years old or younger, with a minimum of eight expected to have starting roles.
Carter’s willingness to set the tone should help compensate for the departure of veteran safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who often helped ignite last year’s group but was traded to the Houston Texans in the offseason. Still, while Carter’s trash talking has been noticeable in practice, the 24-year-old said he won’t always rely on being heard.
“I don’t have to talk to do it,” Carter said. “I might make a play and they can feed off my energy off that. I talk a little bit; I just don’t talk when everybody’s looking.”
In order to let his play do the talking, Carter will need the next few weeks to catch up on the time he missed with a shoulder injury. He said his goals after a breakout second year mostly revolved around doing “what I did last year plus more.”
“I feel like it all comes in order,” Carter said. “I just play well, do what I have to do — even if it’s not just playing well, just playing fundamentally sound and doing what I need to do, all the defensive player of the years, all the trophies, etc., it’s all in order.”
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After being sidelined for the first three practices of camp with what he characterized as an “out of nowhere” injury, Carter was cleared for team drills late last week. The 2023 first-round pick also conceded he’s still working to get into football shape after the delayed start to the summer.
“It’s a little off,” Carter said about his conditioning. “But it’s something that gets worked on every day. As soon as I’m done with this, I’m probably going to hop on the treadmill, get a couple runs in, hop on the bike, just getting better every day. ... Just being back for the last three practices has been good and helping me get my feet under myself.”
Added fellow defensive tackle Jordan Davis: “It’s just great seeing him out there. As a defense, as a D-line, we all kind of thrive when everybody is together. ... He’s getting back into the swing of things, and honestly, it’s just nice to have a full unit.”