Eagles' Star Defender Discusses Shoulder Injury: 'It's A Little Serious'

PHILADELPHIA - Eagles star defensive tackle Jalen Carter has been dealing with a shoulder injury since the beginning of training camp, and the issue forced him to the sidelines for a bit last Sunday at Tampa Bay.

With a three-touchdown lead eroding, Carter was champing at the bit to get back in the action in the fourth quarter and was also fidgety while waiting for the all-clear. Like a bull being released from a chute, the second-team All-Pro returned to the field with the Bucs driving and just outside the red zone in the fourth quarter.

Facing a first-and-10 from the 11-yard line, the Eagles' defensive front, led by Josh Uche and Carter, pressured Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield, forcing the playmaking quarterback into a bad decision ending with the football in the hands of rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell.

Carter was no small part of the equation, desperately diving at Mayfield's legs before the poor decision-making unfolded. Despite the joy of the moment for the Eagles' defense, Carter took his time before getting back to his feet, again fighting off the pain of his damaged shoulder.

The Georgia product admitted that the injury is limiting him somewhat on Thursday, but refused to use that as an excuse.

“Sometimes I get a rush in or I’m playing the run and I feel it," Carter said. "I drop my shoulder or something. I can’t let that be the blame. I’m still out there, I’m still playing. If it’s hurting me that bad I’ll just stop."

In the old football cliche of 'are you hurt or injured?' Carter is leaning toward the former.

“Everybody has injuries, depending on if it’s small or if it’s big, but when the right time comes, if I need to stop and take a little break to work more on my shoulder, that time is going to come," he admitted. "But as of right now it feels good enough to play.”

While Carter didn't get specific with what he's dealing with, he did call it "a little serious."

"Yeah, kind of like, you’re just going against O-linemen, and I was striking every play," Carter explained. "So there’s going to be that one play that kind of tweaks it, and kind of feels it. But we do things to help it before the game, with stretching or just working it out."

With Sunday's game against 2-2 Denver looming, Carter was listed as a limited participant in practice on Wednesday but was upgraded to a full participant by Thursday. The idea is that the injury can't be made much worse than it is now.

Conditioning Is A Work In Progress

Eagles DT Jalen Carter speaks to reporters after an OTA practice on June 3, 2025. | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

What Carter wouldn't do is blame the injury for his conditioning, which defensive coordinator Vic Fangio criticized recently.

"My shoulder and my legs are different," said Carter.

Carter also admitted he's not in the same condition he was late last season when he was handling a heavy workload of reps and often dominating, whether it was play No. 1 or play No. 60.

"I’m never going to be where I need to be," Carter said. "I’m always going to keep working. Even if I feel like I’m in the best shape, and my body’s looking good, I’m going to still keep working. ... Last year, you see, I was out there like 80% [of the defensive snaps]. This year, we’re playing it more smart. We’re just playing as a team. We getting dubs."

The ramp-up to getting back to last season's workload isn't necessarily the goal either.

"I plan on getting better every week. So when I get to that point, I’m there. If I need to play every play, I’ll play every play," he said. "I trust the guys next to me, so I don’t think I need to do that again. However, it works out, I’m not saying, ‘Oh, let me get every play.’

"Let’s go out there and play as a team, and get the ‘dub.’"

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