Jalen Mills on Eagles' CBs: ‘We Have a Standard and We're Not Playing at It'

Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz didn’t exactly break any news during his press conference on Tuesday while saying his defense is in a slump

“Facts of life, our corners aren’t playing very well right now,” Schwartz said. 

No. They're not. 

Against Russell Wilson and the Seahawks, the Eagles gave up 287 yards through the air. Then they gave up 313 to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. And then 332 to Andy Dalton and the Bengals. 

So in three consecutive weeks, the Eagles have had their worst game of the season in terms of passing defense. And those three weeks have compounded to put the 2016 Eagles on the absolute wrong side of history. 

The last three weeks mark the first time in franchise history the Eagles have given up 280-plus passing yards in three consecutive weeks. 

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So Schwartz is right. Their corners aren’t playing very well right now. 

“Yeah, of course,” rookie Jalen Mills said when asked if his position group is in a slump. “We're not playing at the level we want to. For sure. We have a standard and we're not playing at it. But this is a game where we're really looking forward to.” 

So what has happened to the unit that had given up just 222.4 yards per game through the air for the first nine games of the season? 

Well, Nolan Carroll pointed toward technique. The veteran said at times, for whatever reason, he and Mills and Leodis McKelvin have gotten lazy with their technique, but it’s on just a few big plays that change games. When asked how that can happen this late in the season, he didn’t have an answer. 

McKelvin had a different view of what’s gone wrong. 

“Hey, there are great athletes in this world that play football,” he said. “Those guys are going to make plays. They're not like average [guys] out there. They're paid to make plays … so when the ball does come their way, they're going to do the best they can to make plays. We just have to do the best we can do defend that, and that's what we're doing.”

Every defense gives up big plays from time to time. But the frequency which with these Eagles have given up big plays is troubling. 

The Eagles have given up 47 passing plays of 20 or more yards. That's the most in the NFL. By comparison, the lowest number in the league belongs to Denver and Jacksonville (26).  

What does Mills think their problem has been? 

“I think it's the National Football League,” he said. “Things aren't always going to go your way. You are going to have those games where things just aren't working. But as a group, we have to keep grinding, period.”

Cornerbacks, perhaps more than any other position, depend on confidence. Every corner is going to get beat, so it’s important to shake it off and line up ready in a few seconds. That’s not easy. 

But Schwartz on Tuesday said he hasn’t lost confidence in this bunch because it’s the same group that “shut down some of the best offenses in the NFL” earlier in the year. 

Likewise, all three corners said they haven’t lost confidence, either. 

“Very high. Same as it was at the beginning of the year,” Mills said. “Like I said, things happen. If a guy catches a ball, nobody's out there losing their mind or going crazy about it. They caught a ball, line up on the next play.”

“Me, Leo and Jalen, we're still confident that we're going to get it done,” Carroll said. 

At this point in the season, it’s fair to question the trade that shipped last year’s second-round pick, Eric Rowe, out of town before the opener. That left the Eagles with Carroll, McKelvin, Mills and Ron Brooks, who landed on IR earlier this season. 

That means with a schedule that saw Dez Bryant, Odell Beckham Jr., Julio Jones, Marvin Jones, DeSean Jackson and others, the Eagles entrusted a guy on a one-year deal (Carroll), a veteran who never lived up to his draft status (McKelvin) and a seventh-round pick (Mills). 

Meanwhile, the Eagles invested a ton of money this offseason in their two safeties, Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod. 

“Well, you know, a lot of it is availability, also,” Schwartz said when asked for his philosophy on paying corners vs. safeties. “I mean, there's a lot of great corners in the league that don't become available in free agency, and you've got to take every chance you can to improve our team, or to improve anyway you can. There's something to be said for being strong up the middle, also. So I guess I don't know any other way to answer it than that, but good corners are important.”

And right now, the Eagles’ corners aren’t playing well. 

Not that it’s news to anyone.

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