Fans of the Philadelphia Eagles were a little confused in Monday night's 22-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons when former ninth-overall pick Jalen Carter was not seen running with the starting defense in the opening series.
Carter did make an appearance in the second one and played well over half of the team's snaps, but his original absence remained perplexing.
As reported by Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Carter was late to a meeting during the week and was subsequently benched for that first series.
As the dust has cleared from Philadelphia's first loss of the year, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio had a chance to clear the air a bit for the media, and Carter's overall absence.
"He had the hiccups during the week that caused that," Fangio said of Carter.
While Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni did not expand on the questions surrounding Carter's quick absence, the Birds need to figure out their situation with the Georgia defensive tackles and quick.
As Philadelphia's defensive line continues to struggle, Carter and Davis have been key players to blame overall during this time. Unless things change quickly, Carter being late to a single meeting won't be the only thing to worry about.
Whatever the case, Carter has plenty left to prove going forward.
