Closing The Door

The Eagles didn’t have much time to dwell on nearly snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in a gut-wrenching loss in London, with a home matchup against a quality Carolina Panthers team looming.

The relatively quick turnaround entails a return to the drawing board as the team begins to craft its weekly gameplan — and another week of taking inventory of who will be available to play.

But before pressing on, the late game management contributing to Sunday’s loss required closer examination and perspective from key figures.

GETTY IMAGES: Jeremiah Trotter could see more snaps this Sunday – if he can avoid getting thrown out.

With that, here are three notable takeaways from Tuesday’s coordinator availability.

Vic Fangio confirms linebacker rotation

Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio saw enough of third-year linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in the team’s Week 4 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams to warrant an expanded role. Filling in for Zack Baun (concussion) in the 24-20 loss, Trotter Jr. racked up 15 tackles, with his instincts and ability to read and diagnose on full display.

While Fangio historically doesn’t rotate at the position, the plan going into Sunday’s game in London was to “play Trotter some,” in a rotation with second-year pro Jihaad Campbell.

“Trot played good in the start that he had when Zack was out and it was close,” he said Tuesday. “I just think he deserves playing time.”

The gameplan never came to fruition, however, as Trotter Jr. was tossed following the opening kickoff after tussling with Jaguars OLB Bryan Thomas Jr. As a result, Campbell manned his normal role, accounting for 62 of a possible 72 defensive snaps.

The broadcast on Sunday actually mentioned the team’s plan was to start Trotter Jr. against the Jaguars, a notion that Fangio refuted.

“That is an out and out lie,” he said. “Never said that.”

When asked how Campbell performed in London, Fangio offered that the 2025 first round pick played “okay,” which is pretty much in line with his assessment through the first five weeks. But while Campbell, 22, has experienced growing pains early on, sitting him entirely would halt any progress made and could also potentially affect his confidence in the short-term.

Remember, Campbell last season gave way to a returning Nakobe Dean despite an encouraging start to his rookie campaign. Now, he’s expected to see a reduction in snaps.

Campbell’s tools are apparent, he’s rangy and uber-athletic, and has some pass rush chops, though it’s evident he’s still developing and learning the subtleties and nuances of being a linebacker in this system.

As for Trotter Jr., fundamentals and providing assignment sound football, both valued commodities for Fangio, are hallmarks in his game. The Clemson product is a quick processor and plays with good discipline, while also delivering strong run support. The 23-year-old swarms to the football and is rarely caught out of position. For that reason, it would seem logical that Trotter Jr.’s snaps would come on early downs, but Fangio said his decisions won’t be predicated on specific situations.

“No, by series kind of,” he said.

The impending rotation will be another storyline worth monitoring this weekend, when the Carolina Panthers travel to Philadelphia for an early afternoon kickoff.

GETTY IMAGES: Cam Little’s game-winning 57 yard field goal as time expired was enabled by kickoff coverage lapses from the Eagles.

Michael Clay offers perspective on the final kickoff in London

Before Jaguars kicker Cam Little drilled a 57-yard field goal on Sunday to sink the Eagles in deflating fashion, a lapse in kick coverage from the Eagles positioned the Jaguars for the improbable game-winner.

With eight seconds remaining, Eagles kicker Jake Elliott, moments after making a 48-yarder for the go-ahead score, kicked to the Jacksonville 8-yard line. Returner Ameer Abdullah fielded it cleanly, ripping off a 53-yard return to the right side before being brought down by defensive back Jonathan Jones at the Philadelphia 39-yard line with one second remaining. That brought on Little, who did his best Matt Bryant impersonation, sending the Eagles back to Philadelphia with a 2-3 record.

Eagles special teams coordinator Michael Clay on Tuesday was candid in his breakdown of the play.

“We didn’t execute,” he said. “We had our number called. They had played well for 59 minutes, and in the last eight seconds, we didn’t do our job in terms of kickoff coverage. At times, we got too deep in our coverage, didn’t get off blocks and didn’t make tackles when we needed to. That’s more on myself than anything else.

“In terms of that scenario, you guys could cut it however way you wanted. Nick [Sirianni] made that decision. We have to go out there and execute as a kickoff team and get that guy down. Obviously, we didn’t, and it was one of those things where coaches always say you always remember the bad stuff, and you probably will until you’re done coaching. At the end of the day, we’ve got to get off blocks. We’ve got to make sure we get everything funneled in, keep it on our inside shoulder, leverage it out and move on from there.”

It’s worth reiterating the Eagles were down two of their top coverage specialists in Trotter Jr. and running back Will Shipley, who exited the game early with a foot injury, and in some cases were light on third phase experience. The current complexion of the roster required an all-hands-on-deck scenario.

But the Eagles certainly weren’t leaning into that as an excuse.

There’s been plenty of discourse this week regarding the Eagles’ approach to the ill-fated kickoff – should they have instructed Elliott to boot the ball into the end zone for a touchback? – but hindsight is 20/20. Clay also spoke about his involvement in the final decision, illustrating the contributing factors and process derived from weekly preparation.

“I mean, I do what I’m coached to do, and we go through all these different scenarios, not just in the moment of the game,” he said. “We do it during the week of the game, talk about who the kicker is and what his range is. Obviously, Cam Little’s got a big leg, so that goes into a deciding factor.

“Again, it’s not on one person or one decision. We’re all in this together, from the top down in this building. When our number’s called, there have been times when we’ve answered the bell, and that one time we didn’t, it cost us the game. Obviously, it’s not great for us, but you dwell on it for 12 hours.

“I had seven hours to think about it on the flight from London to here. Then you review it, see how we could coach it better, see how we could get the players to do better in terms of how I present it to them where they understand, all right, this is where we’re going to evolve and be better, and where do I evolve and be better as a coach in that scenario so that, if it does arise again, we overcome it and make the play.”

Following the 19-17 loss, Sirianni took accountability for entire late-game sequence, placing the defeat squarely on his shoulders. While Clay expressed gratitude for Sirianni taking responsibility, the veteran special teams coordinator quickly shifted the focus to his own role in the oft-discussed play, taking ownership and vowing to learn from the experience.

“Obviously, you respect anybody that’s going out there to jump on the grenade, so to speak, but it’s not just him,” he explained. “I think he takes a lot of heat, which I respect, but obviously, I’m the special teams coordinator here, and we didn’t get the job done. I thought the players did really well for 59 minutes and 52 seconds of that game, and in the last eight seconds, we didn’t, and it cost us.

“I take it to heart that I felt like I let people down in this organization who worked so hard to give us that opportunity to go win that game in London. Again, you learn from all your mistakes. You learn with these scars that you’ll have, but you move on from it and get ready for the next opponent.”

ITB PHOTO: Sean Mannion is working his way through many growing pains.

Sean Mannion offers insight into second-down completion on the final drive

Down two and positioned at the Jacksonville 34-yard line with 21 seconds to play, the Eagles seemingly had the game within their grasp. Any play that kept the clock running would force the Jaguars to use their final timeout. From there, the Eagles could have eaten up more time, allowing an opportunity for a walk-off field goal attempt.

Focused on picking up yardage to ensure a more manageable kick, Jalen Hurts connected with rookie wide Makai Lemon for a seven-yard completion, advancing the ball to the Jacksonville 27. But Lemon was escorted out of bounds by Jaguars cornerback Jourdan Lewis, stopping the clock and preserving their final timeout.

The play was curious in the moment and ultimately precipitated what would transpire moments later. Could Lemon, running an out-breaking route, have forced himself to stay in bounds with defenders converging? Was that directive made clear to the rookie ahead of the drive?

Offensive coordinator Sean Mannion took us inside the play that altered the trajectory of the game.

“Our focus there was really just to advance the ball,” Mannion explained. “They were in a cover zero look. With that comes some leverage issues where you’re inside. The primary focus there was [to] advance the ball to do our best to help the kick and then get us into the best play possible to do so and avoid a negative play. So, that was the outcome we had there.

“Obviously, he was caught on the outbreak right by the sideline, kind of got pushed out, but our primary focus with the call and with the execution of it was to advance the ball. With the look, that’s what ended up happening. We’re in an outbreak and he ends up getting pushed out.”

Mannion didn’t feel that Lemon could have done anything to remain in the field of play, citing it as a “bang-bang play” on the right sideline. The focus, as he reiterated, was to advance the football for a more manageable kick. With regard to Mannion’s assertion that the Lemon reception was a bang-bang play, that’s fair. From my perspective, it was. But the question then becomes, why run an out-breaking route toward the sideline in that situation.

Mannion explained the rationale.

“Not to get too far into the weeds of the scheme, but in Cover Zero, league-wide, typically you’re going to be fighting a battle of inside leverage,” he explained. “Sometimes, again, the most productive play to try to advance the ball means running away from that inside leverage. Now, different teams attack you different ways, but again, our primary focus in that moment was advancing the ball for the kick. When you’re fighting hard inside leverage, the best way to do that typically is an outbreaker. So, that’s kind of how that came to happen.”

— Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com.