Jalen Carter Among Locker Room Tidbits After Eagles' Final Regular-Season Practice

PHILADELPHIA – They held their first practice on July 23 under blue skies, warmed by a summer sun. On Friday, two days and five-plus months later, the Eagles had their final practice of the regular season indoors because it was about 30 degrees with a wind chill far lower than that.

When coaches and players talk about the NFL season being a marathon, well, they aren’t wrong. Not in the slightest.

The Eagles, of course, aren’t done practicing. They have at least one more week after hosting the Washington Commanders in the regular-season finale on Sunday (4:25 p.m.). Players inside the locker room were loose and relaxed. Perhaps that is the nature of a game that, while it has some meaning, isn’t a win-or-go-home situatoin ike the playoffs will be next week.

The idea behind sitting the starters, even though the No. 2 seed can still be earned with a win over the Commanders at home and a Bears loss at home to the Lions, with both games on Sunday, was to rest them.

“It's not a guarantee that we can get to two seed, but it’s a guarantees that I can rest the starters,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “Just thought that was the best thing for our football team right there.”

Here are some sights and sounds from the locker room following the final regular-season practice:

Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis was presented with the Media Appreciation Award by reporters who cover the team after Friday's practice on Jan. 2, 2026. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

Jalen Carter: The defensive tackle and reigning NFC Special Team Player of the Week wasn’t officially taking questions, but held court at his locker, anyway. He addressed a few things.

First, did he intentionally poke Bills lineman Spencer Brown in the eye, like Brown contends?

“No, but everybody’s going to say I did something I didn’t do after I had the spitting thing,” said Carter.

Second, after watching him sky to block a PAT in Buffalo, he was asked if he knows what his vertical leap is?

“No, but I gotta check that out,” he said. “People said I was pretty high.”

Third, he was asked about his hip, which had him listed on the injury report earlier in the week. He said it happened during the game, that he felt a little soreness, but added he is fine, even though he has been ruled out for Sunday.

Jeremiah Trotter: The Eagles linebacker, who has been one of the team’s best special teams’ players, talked about his brother, linebacker Josiah Trotter, who just declared for the NFL Draft. Trotter and his brother, who started his career at West Virginia and then transferred to Missouri, text and talk regularly, checking up on each other and watching each other’s games.

“I gave him my input on the situation,” said Trotter. “He’s in a great situation. I think right now coming out, he’s pretty high-ranked as an off-ball linebacker.”

Trotter could be among the first 50 players drafted this spring. How would he like to play with his little brother on the Eagles?

“It would be pretty cool,” said Trotter. “I feel like everybody who’s had a brother and you played sports with him, you’d love to play with him and be on the same team, but we’ll see what happens. You never really know what can happen.”

Dallas Goedert: The tight end sat at his locker playing a game with defensive tackle Jordan Davis. It made me wonder, how many more games the tight end has left in an Eagles uniform after signing a one-year contract to return. After staying healthy and catching a team-record 11 touchdowns, there will quite possibly be another team out there willing to give him a multi-year contract.

Jordan Davis: The Eagles defensive tackle was presented with the Media Appreciation Award as voted on by the team’s plethora of beat writers.

“I appreciate you all for accepting me for who I am, I appreciate you all sticking through the tough times,” said Davis. “We all knew the first couple of years weren't going as planned, but understanding the process, the grind, the motivation, and seeing that journey, you all have been there every step of the way.”

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