Philadelphia Eagles Rookie Nolan Smith Set for More Reps, Says Sean Desai

Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai said that Nolan Smith's reps should increase as the season goes along while the rookie pass rusher waits patiently.

PHILADELPHIA – After three games, the most defensive snaps Nolan Smith has had in one game were seven. The Philadelphia Eagles rookie edge rusher has played a total of 19.

Smith is unfazed as he waits patiently for his time.

“I’m not worried about it,” he said. “I’m just taking every day one at a time. I’m still learning from the amazing guys I got in my room. I got guys that played the lowest amount, is what seven years in my room? And I’m just the young guy on the sidelines soaking it up, learning.”

Right now, Smith is getting his work on special teams, recording 38 reps so far (49 percent). The lessons he is learning on defense, though, could soon be applied on game day with an increase in his reps, according to defensive coordinator Sean Desai.

“His reps count will go up and will go up as we go, and we will be diligent to do that,” said Desai.

Perhaps that could happen as soon as Sunday’s home game against the Washington Commanders (FOX/1 p.m.).

One of the issues as far as defensive snap counts goes is that the defense just hasn’t played many snaps. The Eagles' run defense is ranked first in the league, so that tends to lead to quick three-and-outs by opposing offenses.

In Monday night’s 25-11 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the defense took just 47 snaps. It certainly helped that the offense ran out the fourth-quarter clock with a drive that lasted 9 minutes, and 22 seconds.

“A game like last time where the offense did an outstanding job, I'll take that any time of the week, of where they are on the field the whole fourth quarter pretty much,” said Desai. “It limits the number of plays then. We only had 47 snaps in the game, so it throws your whole rotation off. 

"There’s going to be games like that. He'll tell you if the offense wants to hold the ball for that long, we'll take it.”

Philadelphia Eagles rookie Nolan Smith (3) fights off a block in a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns / © Mitchell Leff, Getty Images

Against the Vikings, in a 34-28 win, the Eagles defense faced just 58 snaps. Only the New England Patriots, in the season-opening Philly victory, have managed to stay on the field for very long, running 80 plays.

Despite his limited presence when the Eagles defense takes the field, Smith managed to register his first statistic of the season, getting a quarterback hit on Tampa’s Baker Mayfield.

“It felt great,” said Smith. “It was just an awesome moment and trying to make more plays.”

In order to record that hit, Smith had to hustle to track down Mayfield.

“At Georgia, if you don’t hustle to get there, somebody else will get there before you, so that’s how we do it,” he said. “We tell each other, I’ll see you at the ball then we really do see each other at the ball.”

Smith may find himself meeting at the ball with his former University of Georgia teammates Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Nakobe Dean soon enough, though Dean still has to miss at least two more games after being put on injured reserve after injuring his foot in the opener.

“He's doing a great job,” said Desai of Smith. “I don't know if he has to do more. I got to try to get some packages where we get him out there a little bit more and it fits into our rotational plan. It's part of the send-in-the-waves-people. He is part of that.”