Derek Barnett needs to play smarter

Last week, Derek Barnett was fined $28,075 for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Jamaal Williams in Week 4. This week, the third-year defensive end is being fined $10,527 for his unnecessary roughness penalty during the Eagles’ Week 5 win over the Jets.

The incident occurred during the interception that Nathan Gerry returned for a touchdown. Check out the 0:14 mark of the following video:

It looks like the Jets offensive lineman instigates things but Barnett still unnecessarily dives at his legs to take him out. Just not smart. This flag really should’ve wiped out Gerry’s touchdown since it happened before he crossed the goal line. Barnett was fortunate that it did not go that way.

One would hope that Barnett’s second fine would encourage him to play smarter. He’s now lost $38,602 — which is 2.4% of his 2019 base salary — over the past two weeks.

And the two plays he’s been fined for are hardly the only bad mistakes Barnett has made. He had a dumb offside penalty in Week 1 that shortened a Washington field goal attempt. Barnett had another unnecessary roughness penalty in Week 2 that occurred on Gerry’s first interception of the season. The Eagles had to start the ensuing drive at their own 10-yard line instead of the 20.

Barnett plays with a lot of energy and hustle and that’s commendable. But he really needs to stop making such avoidable mistakes.