Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat Flourishing in Jim Schwartz's 'Attack!' Defense

Against the Saints, the two defensive linemen each put up two sacks and four tackles

PHILADELPHIA – Javon Hargrave gets it now.

Judging by his play in recent weeks, including Sunday’s 24-21 win over the New Orleans Saints, the defensive tackle has it boiled down to the one word that matters most in Jim Schwartz’s defense: Attack!

The read-and-react style of play Hargrave learned during his days in Pittsburgh is fully behind him it would seem, and Fletcher Cox saw the light bulb go on a couple of weeks ago during practice.

“I told Jay one day after a Thursday practice, I said ‘Man, I think you had the best practice this year, this week, attacking the line of scrimmage and really figuring out the defense,’” said Cox. “Think that sunk in and he’s just run with it and he’s doing a really good of attacking.”

Hargrave sacked Saints QB Taysom Hill twice and recovered a fumble forced by a sack from Josh Sweat, who also had a pair of sacks. Hargrave had four tackles and three QB hits and now has 4.5 sacks this season, more than last year and two away from tying his career-high.

“I told him the first couple days here, and just trying to figure out, I told him, ‘Jay, this doesn’t happen overnight, it’s going to take some time, it might even take you a year, it might take you to the end of the season,’” said Cox.

“He was like, ‘Man, really.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but once you do figure it out, you’ll realize how fun this defense is to play in. You get to fly off the ball, play on the offensive side of the ball, and the linebackers clean up everything for you.’ Right now, it’s really clicking.”

It is for Sweat, too.

The third-year defensive end, drafted in the fourth round in 2018 by the much-maligned GM Howie Roseman, has six sacks, which is third on the team behind Brandon Graham’s seven and Cox’s 6.5 after adding to that total with a takedown of Hill on Sunday. Sweat also had four tackles and two QB hits.

On one sack, he just bull-rushed his way past Saints tackle Terron Armstead. On the other, the Saints tried to chip him with a tight end on fourth down and he ran down Hill from backside to force the fumble Hargrave pounced on.

“Some of the plays we noticed that he was holding the ball,” said Sweat. “We figured it would be a lot of boot and stuff like that, so we would have opportunities. I'll be honest, when he did that sprint out, I was like, 'Damn, I might not make it.’

“Something just made me keep running and he held on to the ball and I pretty much saw an opportunity to strip the ball out. I thought I was going to get the recovery but good thing my boy was there.”

Sweat’s numbers have been on the rise since he arrived, from his snap count to his tackles and sacks. He has gone from 68 snaps in nine games as a rookie with four tackles and no sacks to 35 snaps last year with 25 tackles and four sacks in 16 games.

This year, Sweat has played all 12 games with 41 tackles and six sacks. After getting 25 snaps against the Saints, he now has 417 of those.

Sweat would seem to have the hang of the Schwartz’s “Attack!” system, too, just like Hargrave. And it’s not as easy as one might think.

“It was a huge adjustment,” said Malik Jackson, who came to the Eagles last year as a free agent. “You’re coming for me, playing eight years of sitting there reading, essentially. Coming in here, they just want you to go and attack.

“It didn’t really register with me really all through camp. And even the first game I kind of went back to my old ways. It really took me a whole year. I got hurt. So even thinking about it all last year, I had to think about it, I had to put myself in situations in the game, say, 'Do this, do that, do that.' And it still is a challenge. I think Hargrave has come on great, he’s really showing up.”

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