Examining The Eagles' Options Without Jalen Carter

Philadelphia will be without its most talented defender against the LA Chargers on Monday night.

Sep 21, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter (98) against the Los Angeles Rams at Lincoln Financial Field. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles will be without their most talented defender on Monday night in Los Angeles, the result of Jalen Carter and his camp, along with the organization best trying to manage the persistent shoulder pain that the Georgia product has been enduring this season.

Whether it takes one week or a month, the goal is to get Carter as right as possible for another potential lengthy postseason run.

In the short run, it will be interesting to see how defensive coordinator Vic Fangio handles the loss of Carter.

The typical NFL mentality is next man up, which is a little more nunanced when discussing a player with the workload and production of Carter.

Both Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo will have to take on more without Carter, and the player who will see the most significant spike in playing time is likely going to be Byron Young, who has played 193 snaps over the first 12 games as the fourth man in the interior defensive line rotation.

Stepping Up

Take out the outliers for Young – a season-low four reps at Green Bay on Nov. 10 and a high of 38 snaps against the Bears on Black Friday when the defense was on the field for a mind-numbing 87 – and you get a better feel of what you’ll need from the fourth man in the rotation Monday night against the Chargers.

That number is 151 over 10 games, so about 15 reps for rookie Ty Robinson, or a piecemeal approach of giving veteran Brandon Graham some reps inside and perhaps even sliding Jaelan Phillips in obvious passing situations to keep him on the field with Nolan Smith and the emerging Jalyx Hunt.

Practice squad elevations for Gabe Hall or Ta’Quon Graham are also outside-of-the-box options for Fangio and defensive line coach Clint Hurtt if they like what's been going on in practice with those players.

However, if you look at Fangio’s history from last season after Graham went down on the edge, his tactic was shortening the rotation, not expanding it.

Maybe that's the best bet and the most logical path could be to split the extra 15 snaps or so between Davis, Ojomo and Young and keep the proven commodoties on the field longer against a tough Chargers team that will enter Mobday's game with the same record as the Eagles at 8-4.

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