MINNEAPOLIS - For the second straight week, Eagles' defensive end Derek Barnett has been fined by the NFL.
This time, he was fined $10,527 for an unnecessary roughness penalty against the Jets. On Nate Gerry's pick-6, Barnett took out his frustration on Jets OL Alex Lewis, blocking him low dozens of yards from the play. The Eagles were lucky the penalty didn't negate the touchdown. Gerry hadn't yet crossed the goal line.
In the last two weeks, Barnett has been fined $38,602 by the NFL. (He was fined just over $28K for his hit on Jamaal Williams vs. Green Bay.) While there are other types of personal fouls, Barnett leads the NFL in unnecessary roughness calls with three.
Barnett is also the Eagles' most penalized player with six total.
The Eagles love that Barnett plays through the whistle but there's a fine line and Barnett has crossed it a few times already this season through five games.
Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz this week was asked about Barnett's penalties and gave a lengthy response:
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Yeah, both my daughters wear Derek Barnett jerseys to the games, so that tells you how much I think of him. Derek is always a guy that plays with a chip on his shoulder. It's one of the things that makes him successful.
"But you have to be careful about crossing that line, and interception returns traditionally have been - I mean, you go back and I don't want to bore you - but like 20 years ago the interception return would be like nine guys on defense trying to go mess up the quarterback.
"You get offensive linemen that are knocking you around the pile or holding you the whole time, and now it's like, I'm going to go get that guy back. You can't make it a personal war. It has to be about the team, whether it's who gets the sack or who gets the block, whatever it is. ...
"It's so hard to make plays and get interceptions or scoop fumbles. The last thing you want to do is take that away with a penalty. Derek knows that. He just has to balance playing with that chip on his shoulder and playing tough and physical and hustling, all the things we love about him, and just make sure we don't cross the line into doing something that hurts the team.
Head coach Doug Pederson has also said he's talked to Barnett about these penalties.
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