Kevin Byard already taking a leadership role in the Eagles secondary

It didn’t take long after the Eagles win over the Commanders, for some of the defensive leaders in the secondary to acknowledge the need for the group to play better.

Washington QB Sam Howell had a career-high passing game against the Birds, completing 75 percent of his throws for 397 total yards, four touchdowns, and just one interception. The second-year quarterback finished the day with a 114.0 QB rating against an Eagles secondary that looks different every week.

Week 8 marked the eighth iteration of the starting secondary, which is pretty remarkable. The Eagles have played and started guys that had never had an NFL snap before taking the field, and the team has still managed to adjust to elite receivers and get to 7-1 on the season. Regardless, that many combinations makes communication complicated.

Veteran Kevin Byard started for the Eagles just days after being traded to Philly and recorded seven total tackles in his debut. In the safety’s post-game comments, Byard said that it was great that they won, but they didn’t play up to the standard they set for themselves.

“Obviously, I just got here this week, but the way that game ended — I would never apologize, we should never apologize for winning in this league, it’s very hard to do, but as a secondary back seven we have to be better. One hundred percent.”

Byard went on to say that he didn’t think they were clean enough on the details, and while Terry McLaurin dropped some passes in critical situations, the Eagles defense didn’t do enough.