Did Eagles Send A Message To Their Big-Money Pass Rusher?

The Eagles' big defensive free agent signing in the offseason played just six snaps, but felt ready to go the entire game against the Jaguars last week.

Oct 20, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean (17) and defensive end Bryce Huff (0) celebrate after a defensive stop during the second half against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - Bryce Huff said he was good to go all game long last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. After getting an early snap, though, he stayed anchored to the sidelines until, somewhat surprisingly, he was summoned ad inserted for a handful of late fourth-quarter snaps.

The pass rusher ended up with six snaps. The reason was he had suffered a wrist injury during warmups. Huff said on Thursday he was ready to go the whole game.

“It was just up to the coaches to play me how they wanted to play me,” he said. “I was ready to go the whole time.”

Huff, who is still struggling to live up to the hopes the Eagles had for him when they signed him to a three-year, $51 million contract in the offseason, has 1.5 sacks, nine QB pressures, and just eight tackles in 41 percent of the defensive snaps this season.

Is a message being sent?

If so, neither head coach Nick Sirianni nor defensive coordinator Vic Fangio are giving any indication of that.

“He’s still in the mix, in the rotation of the rushers,” said Sirianni. “I’ve got a ton of faith in him. You guys know he had something going on after warmups last week. That is just the way that game went and how he was feeling. Yeah, I’ve got a ton of confidence in him and the things he can do.”

Added Fangio: “When a guy is dealing with something, you'd rather play a guy that's a hundred percent or close to a hundred percent. And then at the end of the game, we had those two drives at the end where guys got gassed.”

Huff said he has blocked out all the media and fan noise by getting rid of his social media presence. “You don’t really see anything outside of that, so I deleted everything,” he said.

Huff said he felt his wrist flare up a bit during warmups and he let the coaches know. “It was how I shoved somebody,” he said. “It sort of twisted the wrong way. It kind of rotated, I guess.”

After the Eagles secured their 28-23 win over the Jags, Huff declined to talk to reporters. He said on Thursday the reason for that was simply that he wanted to get treatment for his injury as quickly as he could.

Huff said he is 100 percent ready to go against the Cowboys in Dallas on Sunday. With a groin injury limiting Nolan Smith in practice, Huff should get plenty of snaps. He should.

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