Jim Schwartz: 'We've got to start putting those inconsistencies behind us'

Jim Schwartz is not playing coy. The Eagles defensive coordinator wants to see more consistency from his defense, and he's not prepared to offer any banal compliments of his players while his patience is running short. It came out when he discussed cornerback Eric Rowe and linebacker Mychal Kendricks, and it would have continued with more players on the defense (except the starting safeties, who Schwartz exempted from his critique.)

"We're getting close [to playing]," Schwartz said. "I mean, you want to teach, and sometimes guys learn best from mistakes. …Sometimes when you make a mistake, it's engrained a little bit and you vow not to make the same one again. So, that's part of training camp. Part of training camp is going out and having some trial by fire and learning from your mistakes and things like that.

"What I'm really talking about is repeat mistakes. Everybody's going to make a mistake. I make a lot, players make a lot. The key is don't make the same one twice. Learn from your mistake. That's where our challenge is, and we're probably like 31 other teams in the NFL this time in training camp. Everybody's striving for the same thing – to be consistent from front to back, to have everybody on the same page, and then that allows the guys' talent to show."

Here are some notes from Schwartz's interview session…

**Mychal Kendricks' pass coverage ability was brought into question by former defensive coordinator Bill Davis in an interview with the Daily News, in which Davis discussed the challenges the Eagles' inside linebackers had covering running backs and tight ends out of the backfield after Jordan Hicks' injury.

Asked specifically how Kendricks has looked in coverage, Schwartz reiterated the need for consistency.

"Sort of like a lot of other guys on the team," Schwartz said. "I won't single any guys out. But I'll just say that as a defense, we need to be more consistent. We mentioned Eric, and we could mention about 40 guys over there that we need to be more consistent. Mychal's a very, very good athlete. He can do some things. He's explosive. He can run. He can cover. It is a little bit new for him, but it's starting to get toward the end of being new."

**Eric Rowe started the final month last season and the 2015 second-round pick seemed a strong candidate to be a starter this season. However, he's mostly been with the second-team defense this spring and summer, and he's an example of a player who Schwartz said must be more consistent.

"He's still a young player. He's only in his second year," Schwartz said. "Everybody wants to make him [out to be] a seasoned vet; he started for about half a year [last season] and he is changing schemes. But we're also through our OTAs and we're through our mini-camp, and we're through a little bit more than a week of [training] camp. And we've got to start putting those inconsistencies behind us, and I'm not just talking about Eric, I'm talking about every guy on defense."

**Defensive tackles Beau Allen and Taylor Hart were drafted to play in Chip Kelly's defense, and they don't seem to be ideal scheme fits for what Schwartz wants the Eagles' defensive linemen to do. Schwartz cautioned against thinking that way and has been impressed by both players.

"Don't sell those guys short. Just because that's what they were asked to do doesn't mean [that's] the only thing [they're capable of doing]," Schwartz said. "Taylor has been very slippery out here. He's got great size. He might not be really stout, but he's slippery. He can get on an edge. He's won his fair share of pass rush.

"And Beau's just a load in there. He's hard to move. And when he can get that, I'll just conservatively say, 300-plus [pounds] going north-south, he's hard to stymie. We don't want him at the line reading. We want him attacking and driving people back, and he can do that."