Weighty Issue Behind Him, Eagles DT Playing Best Football Of His Career

PHILADELPHIA – Lates and weights. Those are what players call the two fines the Eagles hand out – if they’re late to a meeting or practice, or if they are overweight on periodic checks.

Jordan Davis sounded like he had a few weight fines last year. Not anymore. He lost the weight he needed to and now he’s keeping it off.

“I’m still rocking the Peloton, still rocking not eating all the sugar,” he said. “It’s a journey I take every day.”

And guess what? Davis is playing some of the best football of his life, two games deep into his fourth NFL season. He said he can focus more on just playing the game, allowing him to watch more opponent film rather than spending most of his time trying to take weight off.

“I would say (my play) has definitely been better,” he said. “I wouldn’t say the best because I like to say the best is yet to come. We just have to keep being consistent and at the end of the season we’ll let it lie where it lies. My most important thing is just getting a dub at the end of the day.”

Jordan Davis Credits Nick Sirianni

Davis leads all defensive tackles with three passes defensed, and he didn’t make too big a deal out of that.

“If they’re just going to keep throwing it over my head, I’m just gonna put my hands up,” he said. “I think it’s as simple and plain as that. There’s no secret sauce, it’s just timing with the QB and just being aware of if you can’t make it, if you’re not gonna get a hit, if you’re not gonna get a sack, you may as well just throw your hands up and at least attempt to reach for the ball.”

Davis is also tied for second among defensive tackles with 11 tackles.

“He's obviously playing at a very high level right now," said head coach Nick Sirianni. "I love when guys work their butts off to achieve their goals and help the team win, and he's obviously done that. ...The shape that he's in, he's obviously worked really hard to be in that shape, and he is showing that out on the field and that consistency.”

Defensive line coach Clint Hurtt gets a lot of credit for molding Davis, but Davis included Sirianni in that, too.

“I would say it’s patience and belief,” said Davis when asked on Friday what the coach has meant to him. “Even when I was overweight and I was still playing, not at my highest level, but he always had that belief in me, and I think that a culture where you have somebody who believes in you, truly believes in you, motivates you to be the best person you can be."

Davis never took it personally. Only to heart.

Of course, the fine is gonna hurt when you're overweight, but at the end of the day, you understand the place he’s doing it from,” he said. “It was more so, like, all right, he believes in me, and I need to prove it. Coming into this season, I wanted to make sure there was nothing they had to say about that. I didn’t want them to say anything about lates and weights. Be a vet. Be a pro, come in early, be at my weight, do the things I’m supposed to do...I feel that’s a big, important step for me this year.”

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