Current:Home > MarketsEagles replacing defensive coordinator Sean Desai with Matt Patricia − but not officially -CapitalWay
Eagles replacing defensive coordinator Sean Desai with Matt Patricia − but not officially
View
Date:2025-04-12 05:59:24
After two straight losses where the Philadelphia Eagles defense allowed a total of 75 points, the team is making a change on defense.
The Eagles are stripping defensive coordinator Sean Desai of his duties, although a league source said that Desai is still the defensive coordinator. But it's in name only. Desai will be observing the game Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks from the press box while Matt Patricia will be on the sideline calling the defensive plays.
It's a drastic change, especially for a team tied for the NFL's best record at 10-3 entering play Sunday. And it certainly doesn't bode well for Desai's status as coordinator going forward.
FoxSports Jay Glazer first reported the switch in defensive play-calling duties.
EAGLES:Hurts questionable with illness; Slay, two others out vs. Seahawks
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni wasn't available for comment Sunday. But last Tuesday, following the 33-13 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Sirianni was asked if there were any plans to change coaching responsibilities either on offense or defense.
Sirianni responded by saying "no." When asked to explain why, he responded: “I feel good with the people that we have in this building. We’re 10-3. We’re in control of our own destiny, and we’re going to keep rolling and finding answers with the people that we have."
But criticism of Desai had been mounting after the Bills racked up 505 yards on Nov. 26, although the Eagles won that game 37-34 in overtime. That was followed by two straight lopsided defeats, 42-19 to San Francisco and the loss to the Cowboys.
In one stretch during those two games, the Eagles allowed scores on 10 straight possessions (9 touchdowns and a field goal), not including the 49ers' kneeldown to end the game.
On Wednesday, Desai was asked how he handles the criticism.
"That's part of the job," he said. "There is always going to be criticism. Go back every week of this season, there was criticism based on different things that happened in the game. When you play a couple games the way we have, not the performance or the standard we want to, that's going to magnify and amplify. I get it. That's OK.
"What we have to do is just lean into each other and really focus on our process and getting better."
Now the Eagles will try to do it with Patricia. He was hired last spring as a special defensive assistant with two decades of experience. Patricia was the Detroit Lions head coach from 2018-20, and the New England Patriots defensive coordinator under Bill Belichick from 2012-17.
The Patriots won two Super Bowls during that time, but Patricia had been with New England beginning in 2004. After getting fired by the Lions, Patricia returned to the Patriots as a senior football advisor in 2021-22. That included serving as a de facto co-offensive coordinator last season.
Patricia will be tasked with trying to improve an Eagles unit that ranks among the bottom in most defensive categories. The Eagles are 10-3 overall, tied for the best record in the NFL. But they're 22nd in total defense, allowing 354 yards per game; 28th in pass defense, allowing 260 yards per game; 28th in points per game, allowing 24.7; and 32nd and last in thiird-down pass defense, allowing opponents to convert 48.1% of the time.
Patricia will have the added challenge of doing it without top cornerback Darius Slay, who had arthroscopic knee surgery last week. It's not known how long he'll be out. In addition, starting linebacker Zach Cunningham (knee) isn't playing either.
Slay and Patricia clashed during Patricia's stint as Lions head coach, and Slay has said that was the impetus for his March 2020 trade to the Eagles. But Slay said the two talked and cleared the air after the Eagles hired Patricia last spring.
In other news, the Eagles downgraded quarterback Jalen Hurts to questionable Sunday because of an illness. Hurts didn't practice Saturday, but was listed as eligible to play. The Eagles also announced that Hurts is traveling to Seattle separate from his teammates. If Hurts can't play Monday night, veteran Marcus Mariota will take his place.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.
veryGood! (69345)
Related
- The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
- 2 state prison guards arrested, accused of sex with inmates
- J. Robert Harris: A Pioneer in Quantitative Trading
- State of emergency in NY as Debby pummels Northeast with rain: Updates
- 'As foretold in the prophecy': Elon Musk and internet react as Tesla stock hits $420 all
- 'Cuckoo': How Audrey Hepburn inspired the year's creepiest movie monster
- Flip Through the Differences Between Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics at the Olympics
- Olivia Reeves wins USA's first gold in weightlifting in 24 years
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Olympics changing breaking in sport’s debut as dancers must put scores above art
Ranking
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Quantum Ledger Trading Center: Bull Market Launch – Seize the Golden Era of Cryptocurrencies
- Third Teenager Arrested in Connection to Planned Attack at Taylor Swift Concerts, Authorities Say
- The last known intact US slave ship is too ‘broken’ and should stay underwater, a report recommends
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- Sha’Carri Richardson rallies US women in Olympic 4x100 while men shut out again
- PHOTO COLLECTION: AP Top Photos of the Day Friday August 9, 2024
- France vs. Spain live updates: Olympic men's soccer gold medal game score, highlights
Recommendation
'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
To Kevin Durant, USA basketball, and especially Olympics, has served as hoops sanctuary
Quincy Wilson says he 'wasn't 100% myself' during his Olympics debut in 4x400 relay
West Virginia coal miner killed in power haulage accident
Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
Former wrestler Kevin Sullivan, best known as The Taskmaster, dies at the age of 74
Horoscopes Today, August 9, 2024
Florida man gets over 3 years in prison for attacking a Muslim mail carrier and grabbing her hijab