Unsung Alex Singleton Becomes the Star

Pressed into duty due to an injury to TJ Edwards, the linebacker made one of the biggest plays in Eagles' 25-20 in over the 49ers

Alex Singleton never got an opportunity to silence the crowd with his backbreaking 30-yard pick-six during Sunday night's 25-20 Eagles win over San Francisco.

The silence is built-in during the COVID-19 pandemic and no fans were in Levi’s Stadium for Football Night in America when Singleton pulled the heart from Nick Mullens and the Niners by settling under Kendrick Bourne in zone coverage.

“It was a real quiet stadium,” Singleton laughed after the game which vaulted the Eagles into first place in the woeful NFC East with a 1-2-1 record. “It was an interesting feeling. I haven’t scored a touchdown since my junior year of college. So it was really cool.

"It’s exciting just to be part of it. And obviously, Sunday night, you got to go find the fan cam in the corner. We talk about that as a defense — if you score, where we’re gonna go, so it was pretty exciting to be able to do that.”

Singleton, typically a core-four special teamer for Dave Fipp, gets the occasional snap in the Eagles' four-linebacker looks or in short-yardage situations but was pressed into action when TJ Edwards went down in the first half with a hamstring injury.

“When T.J. went down, which is a huge loss — that’s our MIKE. T.J.'s a great football player, but like Coach (Doug Pederson) always talks about, next man up, and you don’t want to be the weak link,” Singleton said. “You want to be the strong link, so to be able to go out there and be able to do my job is the most important thing for this team, and that’s what I did.”

The Singleton pick-six was the back-end of a one-two punch that crippled the 49ers and sent Mullens to the bench.

Carson Wentz had just thrown a 42-yard touchdown pass to Travis Fulgham to put the Eagles on top 18-14 when Singleton took advantage of his good fortune.

“He kind of threw the ball right to me,” said Singleton, “so my heart kind of skipped a beat.”

In that instance, a six-year journey, that included a sojourn to the CFL where Singleton was a star, got stamped.

“It’s been a long time to obviously get to the point where I get any defensive snaps,” Singleton said. “First time in the league was six years ago, so to be able to finally have that come, to be able to make a play for this team is what you do it for. As much as I’ll enjoy it for myself, I’m happy this team won."

That kind of selfless sentiment was amplified by Pederson post-game.

“He’s kind of the unsung hero,” the coach said. “This guy, he’s a four-core special-teams player. He’s a backup role player on defense, and he just battles. He comes to work every day. He’s always in a great mood. He’s excited. He’s excitable. Guys rally around him, and I was happy for him to get that pick-six.”

Singleton also had two tackles in the game, a pass breakup, and a host of teammates celebrating his success.

“I’m so happy for him," defensive back Jalen Mills said. "That guy, he’s had a long journey, and for him to get that on a turnaround and get that interception and score, that was so big for this team, man. I’m so happy for him.

"Dude works extremely hard, not only on special teams, but now he got his opportunity on the field and he made the most of it, and I know that’s not going to go unseen by the coaches. So for sure, I’m thinking he’s going to get a little bit more extra playing time now."

John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM and every Monday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SportsMap Radio. 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

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