Jordan Davis was the only starter on defense and he loved every minute of it

Jordan Davis was the only starter on defense and he loved every minute of it originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Jordan Davis loved every minute of it.

Davis was the only defensive regular on the field in the Eagles’ meaningless season-ending win over the Giants Sunday, and he played 21 snaps for the simple reason that you can’t rest everybody.

The Eagles played only 15 guys on defense – that’s their fewest in a game since at least 1960, according to Stathead – and with Jalen Carter inactive it left only Moro Ojomo, Thomas Booker, Davis and Milton Williams as interior linemen suiting up.

You might think a guy like Davis – a 3rd-year starter, a 1st-round pick – would resent being sent out to play alongside a bunch of backups in a meaningless game.

On the contrary.

“That’s another game I get to play,” Davis said after the Eagles got to 14-3 with a 20-13 win over the Giants. “ I love this game, man. I’ve played football since I was a kid, so any game that I get to play I’m very fortunate, very excited. Treat every game the same, whether we’re playing the Giants, whether we play in the Super Bowl.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s still a game of football that we gotta play and I take pride and I take fun in it. I just want to make sure that all the guys are taking pride and having fun with it, and I’m sure they did, too. It don’t matter to me. It’s a game.”

Dallas Goedert was the only other starter to play Sunday, but that was only to knock off the rust after he spent a month on Injured Reserve with a knee injury. And he only played two series.

Davis was out there all afternoon.

“You know, I’m like the only true nose (tackle),” he said. “So I knew any time that we would go three down (linemen), I knew I had to be in there. But I was ready for whatever, whatever helped the team win, that’s what I’m playing for. It doesn’t matter what position they throw me in. They can put me in three technique, they can put me in shade or inside, it doesn’t matter.

“I just wanted to do something to have the best chance of winning, because, shoot, we ain’t coming to lose. We ain’t coming to lose against the Giants, like nah, it’s not an option. We came here to win, so whatever I can do to get the momentum going or just be the anchor in the middle, I’m going to do it.”

Davis has been solid this year, and while if the Eagles had to do over again they probably wouldn’t have taken him 13th overall in the 2022 draft, he has developed into an important starter on the NFL’s No. 1 defense.

And his teammates love the energy and toughness he brings every snap. Even the ones that don’t mean anything.

Davis had a season-high five tackles and a tackle for loss as the Eagles held the Giants’ starters to 238 yards and one touchdown.

Some veterans would have seen it was a punishment. Davis saw it as an opportunity.

“(That’s) the type of teammate and type of person he is,” Nick Sirianni said. “I thought he played really good. … You kind of felt his presence all game.

“You can’t rest everybody in those scenarios. It’s impossible. There will be guys you want to rest that you can’t, and he went out there and played a really good game, played an outstanding game. It was fun to watch him play in that setting.”

The Eagles allowed 30 points and 383 yards per game the last six weeks of last year and went 1-5 before getting blown out in Tampa in the wild-card round.

They allowed 17 points and 285 yards per game the last six weeks this year and went 5-1, so it sure looks like they’re better equipped for the playoffs this year.

Davis is the only player to start all 34 games for the Eagles over the last two seasons, and like everybody on defense he was able to finish strong this year.

A huge change from last year.

“And that comes with just me being a pro in this third year, just understanding what I need to do, how I need to keep myself in shape and I’ve been doing that and gonna keep doing that,” he said.

“We’ll stick to the model and, I mean, shoot. Whatever it takes.”

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Tags: NFL