The playing time of quarterback Michael Vick in the future was a story directly after the end of the Eagles’ loss to the Falcons on Sunday.
That obscured playing time issues that were playing out in the present. The Eagles kept defensive end Jason Babin on the bench a lot more than usual in the 31-17 loss, choosing to go with Brandon Graham and Cullen Jenkins instead of the guy who had nine sacks through seven games last season. He has just 2.5 this year, but said after the game that any thoughts he’d be motivated by increased time on the sideline were off base.
“To me, I have intrinsic motivation,” Babin said, via Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News. “External environmental activity is not going to affect my drive, my desire, my effort, how I go about my business. It’s not going to make me play harder. I’m giving you everything I’ve got already.”
The Eagles had two sacks on Sunday, but they were shredded on third down as the Falcons marched to a 7-0 record. The disappearance of the pass rush is one of many problems plaguing the Eagles right now, something Babin called a matter of poor execution that is “correctable.” It’s high time the Eagles made the corrections because it’s getting close to being too late for any repairs to matter in 2012.