Reed Blankenship clinched a 15-12 Philadelphia Eagles victory when he intercepted New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr with 55 seconds left in their Week 3 matchup.
The Eagles were naturally fired up after their come-from-behind victory on the road in the Superdome. They celebrated their win, during which they scored 15 of their points in the fourth quarter.
However, Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter took the celebration too far. The second-year Carter appeared to give some Saints players, including veteran defensive backs Marshon Lattimore and Tyrann Mathieu, a double-thumbs down gesture as they took the field. That gesture upset Mathieu, who was seen shouting at the Eagles sideline.
Meanwhile, Carter began walking the sidelines and baiting the New Orleans crowd to get louder. That led coach Nick Sirianni, defensive line coach Clint Hurtt, and chief security officer Dom DiSandro to intervene and restrain Carter.
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The Fox cameras captured most of the exchange at the end of the broadcast.
Sirianni was not asked about his late-game exchange with Carter after the contest, but it didn’t appear to dampen his opinion of the second-year tackle’s performance Sunday.
Sirianni waxed poetic about the preparation that Carter and his counterpart, Jordan Davis, put in ahead of the game against the Saints. He believed their efforts paid off after they limited a high-flying New Orleans offense to 12 points.
‘Jalen Carter played his butt off,’ Sirianni told reporters.
It’s hard to argue with Sirianni’s assessment. Carter racked up four tackles, two TFL, and two pass defenses while terrorizing the Saints, who had to turn to backup center Lucas Patrick after an early-game injury to starter Erik McCoy.
While Sirianni may have preferred to see Carter avoid his postgame tiff with Mathieu and the Saints fans, it didn’t ultimately impact the Eagles negatively during their second win of the season.