After the defense got ‘out-physicaled,’ Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean believes ‘you can fix anything’

In 2024, a bye-week reset changed the course of the Eagles' season. Could another "reality check," in Zack Baun's words, be on tap with nine days before they take the field again?

Cooper DeJean and the Eagles defense were bullied by a pair of rookies Thursday night in East Rutherford, N.J.Read moreDavid Maialetti / Staff Photographer

by Jeff Neiburg

Published Oct. 10, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ET

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — There was a sequence near the midpoint of the third quarter that defined the night for the Eagles’ defense.

Jaxson Dart took a shotgun snap on a second-and-10 from the Eagles’ 13-yard line, his Giants already up by three. Dart turned around and pitched the ball to Cam Skattebo, who started up the right side of the field. Out ahead, Giants tight end Theo Johnson tossed Drew Mukuba. As Skattebo neared the first-down marker, he lowered his shoulder into Zack Baun and caused the All-Pro linebacker to almost levitate.

On the next play, Dart handed to Skattebo for a 1-yard score. The call on the field wasn’t instantly a touchdown, and after Dart pleaded with one official near the goal line, the quarterback playfully gave him a high-five to his elevated hand. After the score was confirmed, Skattebo did a standing backflip.

The Eagles were bullied Thursday night at MetLife Stadium, punked by two rookies. They allowed 34 points to the 28th-ranked scoring offense, which entered Thursday scoring half the amount they scored Thursday night.

The Eagles were down multiple starters. Jalen Carter, who entered the day questionable with a heel injury, was inactive. Nolan Smith remains on injured reserve with a triceps injury. Quinyon Mitchell went down in the first half with a hamstring injury and did not return.

Baun said the injuries were no excuse. “We got enough guys on this team to play good football and we just didn’t do that tonight,” he said.

The Eagles, Baun said, “came out flat,” in the 34-17 loss, and he couldn’t explain why.

» READ MORE: Grading the Eagles' loss to the Giants

The Eagles pride themselves on physicality on both sides of the ball. Granted, Carter and Smith are two key parts of the Eagles’ ability to play physical football on defense, but the Eagles didn’t have an answer for a 1-4 team’s physicality.

“We talk about it all the time,” Cooper DeJean said of playing physical. “We talk about it, but we got to go out there and be about it and do it on the field. They out-physicaled us in moments tonight. That’s just not us. That’s not our brand of football, and we got to fix that.”

The Eagles were one of the better third-down defenses in the NFL last season. They are in the bottom half of the league early on in 2025, and they allowed the Giants to convert on 11 of 16 third downs Thursday, many of them coming on third-and-short situations because the Eagles struggled so much on first and second downs.

Skattebo carried 19 times for 98 yards. Dart added 10 non-kneel rushes for 60 yards and threw for 195 yards while completing 17 of his 25 passes despite being down his top two receiving targets.

Thursday’s performance came after the Eagles’ defense allowed 18 points in the fourth quarter Sunday in a loss to Denver. Part of that problem, and part of the ongoing problem, is that the offense too often went three-and-out and forced the Eagles’ defense back onto the field. Sunday marked consecutive games in which the Eagles had 70 or more defensive snaps. They had just three such occasions in 2024. The Giants ran 67 offensive plays Thursday.

Last year’s defense, the top unit in the league, was deeper. This year’s doesn’t seem built to withstand injuries to its top players. With Mitchell out, the Eagles were forced into situations in which their outside corner combination was Kelee Ringo and Adoree’ Jackson. Ringo started Thursday opposite Mitchell, but was benched for Jackson before Mitchell went down. So Jackson was in for Ringo, and Ringo was in for Mitchell. It was like musical chairs with no seats left.

Ringo at one point allowed a catch in his area and then forgot to touch Wan’Dale Robinson while he was on the ground.

Darius Slay and Isaiah Rodgers aren’t walking through that door.

Only five teams entered Thursday allowing more sacks than the Giants’ offense. The Eagles’ lifeless pass rush got to Dart for a sack for a loss just once.

Josh Sweat and Milton Williams aren’t walking through that door.

Brandon Graham is a podcaster now.

“You can fix anything,” DeJean said. “We just got to have the will and the want to to go out there and fix the things we need to fix and have it show up on Sunday.”

Baun said he would draw on his experience from last season. The Eagles were at a similar juncture when they were 2-2 last season leaving Tampa Bay and heading to their bye. They have lost two straight for the first time since the 2023 season. They have a mini-bye of sorts this weekend before playing again next Sunday in Minneapolis. Then they host the Giants before their regular bye in Week 9.

Last season’s restart helped the Eagles change course and find an identity.

“We needed a reality check then, and maybe that’s what we needed now,” Baun said. “We’ll get on the same page and correct the things we need to correct.”