Philadelphia Eagles' Secondary Taking 'Ownership' vs. Seattle Seahawks: 'No Complaining'
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Philadelphia Eagles safety Kevin Byard led the charge of taking accountability this week after two abysmal defensive performances against the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys.
Ahead of their matchup with the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football, Byard suggested to defensive coordinator Sean Desai that the secondary could handle the scouting report themselves.
“Hey, let us do the scouting report this week,” Byard said via The Athletic.
The secondary specifically has struggled in the past three games against the Cowboys, 49ers and Buffalo Bills. Those three teams picked up a combined 40 first downs through the air while going 30 of 49 on third downs.
Kevin Byard has one interception this season for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Getting stops and getting off of the field has proved to be the biggest problem for Philadelphia's defense this season. The Eagles are the worst third-down team in the NFL this year statistically, giving up 87 conversions, the most in the league, on 181 attempts. Their opponents' 48.1 percent conversion rate on third down is the highest in the NFL as well.
“There’s ownership in all this,” Byard told The Athletic. “We all take ownership. When the coaches do their interviews (with the media), that’s one of the first things they say, ‘Hey, I’ve got to do better.’ It’s the same thing for us (as players). We all have our hands in the same pot. At the end of the day, we can all do more. We’re in the solution business. Not the complaining business. We don’t do no complaining here. We all stick together. We’re going to fix it together. We’re going to play better.”
Byard brings a strong veteran mentality to Philadelphia having played in the NFL for eight seasons. He had spent his entire career with the Tennessee Titans until he was traded to his hometown Eagles this season.
On Monday night, Philadelphia will be on the road to take on the Seahawks at 8:15 p.m. ET from Lumen Field.
