Eagles juggle Jalen Hurts illness, Matt Patricia calling defensive plays before Seahawks game on Monday night

The Philadelphia Eagles made a change with their defensive play-calling this week, as Sean Desai has been replaced by Matt Patricia. On Sunday, the team announced that Patricia will call the plays, relaying them to the “green dot” of the defense, starting with Monday night’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.

A source confirmed to CBS Sports Lead NFL Insider Jonathan Jones that Desai retains his title as defensive coordinator, but will move to the booth as Patricia handles the play-calling duties. The Eagles signed Desai to a four-year contract this offseason after Jonathan Gannon departed for Arizona to take the Cardinals head coaching position. Desai will move to the coaching booth starting this week, which is where he called defensive plays when he was defensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears in 2021.

Philadelphia made the change to the defense after two poor performances against the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, but there were problems prior to those two games. Since Week 8, the Eagles are 32nd in the NFL in third down defense (54.8%) and red zone defense (78.3%), also allowing a league high 428.2 yards per game and 297.8 passing yards per game. Philadelphia is 31st in the league in points per game allowed (30.0) and has allowed 30-plus points in three consecutive games for the first time since 1967. 

The change in defensive coordinator comes days after head coach Nick Sirianni publicly defended both his coordinators after being under fire over the last several weeks. Sirianni and the Eagles didn’t make changes on the offensive side of the ball.

“I feel good with the people that we have in this building,” Sirianni said. “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.

“To single somebody out, one person out, is not the right move here. It’s how do we get better as a team. And we have to get better as a team. Make no mistake about it.

“But that’s where we are there.”

The Eagles either reversed course during the week, or the front office stepped in and made the decision. Either way, Desai isn’t the one calling plays on the defense starting this week. 

Hurts is battling an illness and missed the final team practice Saturday in preparation for Monday night’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. The Eagles didn’t initially give Hurts an injury designation, but that changed Sunday as the quarterback was officially ruled as questionable.

Hurts traveled with the team separately so other members of the team didn’t get sick. He will start against the Seahawks on Monday night, according to multiple reports.

The Eagles actually changed up their practice routine this week in addition to the defensive play-calling changes. Sirianni had been giving his tired team walkthroughs for the first practice of the week, but that changed on Thursday as the Eagles had a full-padded practice in December instead of a walkthrough. 

“You can easily change schedules to get what you need,” Sirianni said Thursday. “We’re not locked into any schedule. Everything is fluid in attempts of getting better. I feel like here this is a chance for us to get better in the sense of we need to go out there and work on our fundamentals.

“We’re late in the year. Sometimes late in the year you don’t have this opportunity because you’ve got to balance them being rested, got to balance them playing fresh, while also being ready physically and mentally.”

The Eagles have put the pads back on before, pre Sirianni. During the Super Bowl season in 2017, the players asked Doug Pederson to have them put the pads back on leading up to the playoff opener following two poor games to close the regular season. The Eagles ended up winning Super Bowl LII.

Philadelphia has been shanking things up in multiple facets, trying to shake up a two-game losing streak which the Eagles were outscored a combined 75-32 by the 49ers and Cowboys.