Barnett impressing Eagles with nose for ball
PHILADELPHIA >> From the moment the Eagles interviewed defensive end Derek Barnett, the centerpiece of their 2017 draft, they thought he would lead them in sacks.
Sure, Barnett was undersized and ran one of the slowest 40-yard dash times recorded for a pass rusher at the NFL scouting combine. But he broke the late Reggie White’s career record for sacks at Tennessee and had a nose for the football.
In Barnett’s rookie season he was part of an iconic play as he recovered the Tom Brady fumble forced by Brandon Graham to preserve the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII victory over the New England Patriots. The kid was trending upward.
All the Eagles had to do to get the most out of Barnett was to put him in the right position to make plays and get out of his way.
So, before the 2019 season the Eagles got rid of veteran defensive end Michael Bennett, who led them with nine sacks last year and wanted to be compensated for it. They moved on from aging veteran Chris Long, who gave them 11.5 sacks and a lot of leadership over two seasons.
And when differencemaker Jadeveon Clowney became available in the preseason, the Eagles inquired but said no thanks, we’ve got Barnett on a rookie contract. We’ll let him blossom. The Seattle Seahawks obtained Clowney from the Houston Texans for a thirdround pick, two guys who wouldn’t be welcome on the Eagles’ practice squad and the $15 million franchise tender.
Five games into this, Barnett’s breakout season, he’s second on the squad with two sacks, although the most recent one came against a guy (David Fales) so obscure he wasn’t listed on the New York Jets’ flip card or in the final box Sunday.
No, Barnett leads the Eagles leads the Eagles with six penalties, including three unnecessary roughness infractions. And it could get worse.
Barnett is a penalty marker waiting to be dropped. He has two more penalties than the next biggest offender on the team, offensive tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai (four infractions).
Barnett has three times as many roughness penalties as anybody on the Eagles and leads the squad in offside penalties this season.
Other than that, he’s been a joy to coach.
On the contrary, it’s enough to bother even the most publicly forgiving head coach.
So perplexed was Doug Pederson trying to give Barnett the benefit of the doubt Monday he gave up trying. How can you explain why he would take a run at an opponent on the other side of the field from teammate Nate Gerry’s 51yard dash with an interception for a score on Sunday? Referee Adrian Hill’s officiating crew saw it. The 15-yard penalty resulted in Jake Elliott kicking a 47yard extra point.
“What I saw on the coach’s tape is just that he was in front of the offensive lineman, and they collided and then he went low on the offensive lineman and he didn’t need to do it,” Pederson said. “It was away from the play. We talked about that as soon as he came off the field. He understood that. But it was just a mistake that he didn’t need to make.”
It was only a week ago that Barnett insisted he wasn’t a dirty player after slamming into Green Bay Packers running back Jamaal Williams, who’d already been immobilized by Eagles linebackers Nigel Bradham and Zach Brown. Barnett went in high, jolting the head of Williams, who was carted off the field on a stretcher with a concussion. The league fined Barnett $28,075 for unnecessary roughness.
Already short on experienced defensive linemen, the Eagles were lucky Barnett wasn’t ejected. The NFL disciplinary police in New York let him play.
A few days later, Vontaze Burfict was ejected for a helmet-to-helmet hit and suspended for the rest of the season. He’s appealing the suspension.
Barnett didn’t do anything to help his less than sparkling reputation with the roughness penalty Sunday. Pederson sounds uncomfortable addressing the matter and for good reason — it’s something entirely under the control of the player. It’s not as if the officials are conflicted about flagging Barnett for acts that go over the line.
“Derek and I have talked,” Pederson said. “We talk during the week. We talked during the game yesterday about it. Listen, it’s an emotional game and sometimes things escalate during the game. Having been out there and being around those guys, obviously you don’t ever want to be labeled as one of those type of athletes. But he’s aggressive. He plays hard. He plays to the whistle. I’m not going to take that away from him, obviously. We’ve just got to be smarter and it starts with me communicating that with the team and being a more disciplined football team that way.”
Barnett is on pace for 19 penalties this season, which is six more than the most penalized Eagles player has managed over the last 20 years. It’s possible he could be fined for the second straight week per his blindside hit Sunday.
That’s a legacy Barnett and the Eagles cannot afford if he’s to fill his potential.
Contact Bob Grotz at bgrotz@21stcenturymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @ BobGrotz.