Ken Flajole Cites 'Unnoticed Production' from Embattled Nate Gerry
PHILADELPHIA - Many casual Eagles fans don't know much about Ken Flajole, the Eagles' well-regarded linebackers coach.
They don't like it when Flajole steps up to defend Nate Gerry, the struggling fourth-year linebacker currently on injured reserve with an ankle injury, however.
Before being shut down in advance of the Dallas win before the bye week, Gerry had played 97 percent of the team's defensive snaps as the only three-down linebacker on defense. That despite a perceived lack of efficiency.
To date, the Eagles have four LBs who've played enough snaps to be graded by ProFootballFocus.com and Gerry is last on the list, No. 64 of 85.
Duke Riley, who has spent the majority of the season as the nickel 'backer next to Gerry is No. 39.
Alex Singleton, whose playing time ramped-up when T.J. Edwards went down with a hamstring injury is No. 45, and Edwards himself returned from a three-game absence against the Cowboys to put together his best game as a professional, notching 12 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble that led to Rodney McLeod's 53-yard fumble return for a TD which essentially sealed that game.
That performance spiked Edwards' current standing to No. 13 but Dallas rookie signal-caller Ben Dinucci certainly was not exactly equipped to take advantage of Edwards' lack of speed in the passing game.
More so than the overall rankings, though, Gerry has been the worst at what is supposed to set him apart as a former safety out of Nebraska, pass coverage.
Flajole was front and center Tuesday to again explain why the coaching staff favors Gerry, something that starts with his football IQ.
"I think there’s a lot of people that paint Nate in a different light," said Flajole. "I’m going to stand up for the guy because he helps us in a lot of different ways that aren’t shown necessarily on game day. His ability to manage the game - I don’t think you guys realize how much mentally we put on our MIKE linebacker in terms of getting us into the right call."
Flajole was pressed on that issue and asked about the Week 5 loss in Pittsburgh when Ben Roethlisberger manipulated things at the line of scrimmage late to take advantage of rookie receiver Chase Claypool in single coverage with Gerry, the end result being a fourth touchdown by the former Notre Dame star during a 38-29 Steelers win.
Flajole was asked why Gerry didn't adjust to Roethlisberger's own adjustment and get the Philadelphia defense out of a disadvantageous position.
As defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz did earlier, Flajole simply tipped his cap to a veteran QB, who was able to communicate effectively with the play clock winding down.
"I give credit to Pittsburgh for recognizing the coverage, and understanding where the stress of the coverage was," Flajole said. "Can we blame (Gerry)? I guess you can say after it was done he knew what was coming. He could have backed up on the down right now, but then he would have given up the shallow cross and it would have been a first down and the game would have been over anyhow. So it’s really choose your poison right now.
"I’m not going to fault the kid on that. He came off on the sideline and he said, ‘I knew they were going to run a stutter, but I tried to prevent them from running the shallow cross.’ I get it. Tough down for him. Kudos to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but I’m not going to hang that one on Nate."
Flajole's refusal to throw Gerry under the bus again angered Eagles fans who somehow would also be incensed if they did have Adam Gase-like coaches who did throw players under the bus.
It doesn't make sense but that's the life of an NFL coach, who has to make the best of what they have.
"When you’re a defensive coordinator in this league, and I’ve been one, so I think I speak with a little bit of experience to this, you know the score, you know the personnel group, you know the time, the field position," Flajole said. "But there’s a lot of time you make the call as a coordinator based on those things and an offense comes out and gives you a bit of a different look. And it falls on the MIKE linebacker or somebody on defense that’s out there on the field to amend the call to get us into the right call.
"And Nate has been really good about that. He gets us into the right call. He thinks ahead of the problem. He can get us out of a bad down a lot of times by adjusting the front or getting us into a check that makes it a little bit easier for us to manage that down."
For now, Gerry's ability to make things easier for the coaches will keep him in the lineup when healthy.
"I like Nate," said Flajole. "And again I know he’s caught some criticism, but you’re not going to hear it from me, guys. I really think the guy's been valuable for us, and more ways than what has been shown out on the field. It’s unnoticed production by him, but again from the coaching staff we understand what his role is and he’s done a nice job."
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Tuesday and Thursday on "The Middle" with Eytan Shander, Harry Mayes, and Barrett Brooks on SportsMap Radio and PhillyVoice.com. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Get the latest Eagles news by joining the community. Click "Follow" at the top right of the EagleMaven page. Mobile users click the notification bell. And please follow @kracze on Twitter.
