Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon: 'I don't have a scheme'

Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon hasn't had a very good two weeks.

His defense was burned for 83 points, 851 yards, including 360 on the ground, in the last two games. No wonder the Eagles allowed 40 or more points in back-to-back games for only the fifth time in their history in losses to Dallas on Sept. 27 and Kansas City on Sunday.

It's one thing to get burned with a plan in place, along with the necessary adjustments. It's quite another to dig in your heels and not change anything.

"I think we're all pissed off about the last two games," Gannon said. "We haven't played great on defense. That's evident. And that starts with me, and starts with the coaches."

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Perhaps the defense was bound to struggle this season.

Turning the defense over to Gannon, who's 38 and in his first season as a defensive coordinator, seemed like a risk.

Especially when the head coach, Nick Sirianni, is a first-time head coach himself and has a background in offense. In many situations, a neophyte head coach with expertise on offense would hire a veteran defensive coordinator, or vice versa if the head coach's expertise is on defense.

Former Eagles coach Doug Pederson, a first-time head coach, had Jim Schwartz, who had been a defensive coordinator and a head coach for several years before running the Eagles' defense.

Say what you will about Schwartz, but the Eagles did make the playoffs in three of his five seasons, including winning a Super Bowl.

As for Sirianni, he said he has faith in Gannon, citing the fact that the same defense gave up just 23 points combined in the first two games.

"I'm still very confident in Jonathan," Sirianni said. "Obviously, you come off two games where you gave up (83 points). That's not good enough, right? We all know that."

Fletcher Cox certainly doesn't seem happy in his new role, where he's playing both as a straight-ahead rusher like he has in the past as well as a read-react role. Cox has been selected to the Pro Bowl in each of the past six seasons.

Yet through four games, Cox has zero sacks and zero tackles for losses.

"I mean scheme-wise, some things are different," Cox said, while saying he has to play better. "Last year I was able to kind of run off the ball a little bit. More than what we’re doing now. We’re playing a different style of defense. Two different coordinators. Now you see me sometimes in a 4 (technique), so that’s a big difference for me.

"It's hard to get settled into a game when you’re playing so many positions and doing so many things."

And that's part of the problem, especially after Gannon said this when asked about his patience level with players learning a new defense:

"I don't have a scheme. Our scheme should be to put our 11 guys on the field in the best position possible to succeed."

In other words, he desires versatile players who can adjust based on what the offense is doing. Gannon mostly plays a Cover-2, with two safeties deep, thus trying to take away the big play down the field.

But what happens when the Eagles don't have players who can adjust?

This is the realm of general manager Howie Roseman, who is responsible for finding those players. The Eagles, however, haven't drafted a defensive back in the first three rounds since Sidney Jones (second) and Rasul Douglas (third) in 2017, and both players are long gone.

So this is what happens: On the Chiefs' second touchdown, the Eagles had linebacker Eric Wilson covering speedy wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Wilson had no chance as quarterback Patrick Mahomes flicked an easy 6-yard touchdown pass to Hill.

The natural question is why were the Eagles in nickel on that play (five defensive backs and two linebackers) as opposed to dime (six defensive backs and one linebacker)?

While Gannon said "I'd like that one back," he added: "We're not really a dime team right now. We like to play out of four down (linemen) and two linebackers."

It's likely that Gannon doesn't feel comfortable using a sixth defensive back because he might not have one good enough. If that's the case, that would be an indictment on safety Marcus Epps, or K'Von Wallace, a fourth-round pick in 2020 who's on injured reserve.

And of course, Roseman.

But how bad can they be?

Both Epps and Wallace have started games this season while Rodney McLeod was working his way back from a torn ACL. Epps played 28% of the snaps Sunday, but all of those were in place of McLeod, who played his first game in 10 months.

Of course, as Gannon pointed out, not every defensive call will cover up every weakness, and there is always something for the offense to exploit. He bases the defense's success on accomplishing three objectives, which he wouldn't reveal.

"There are certain things that go on that I am OK with, that to the eye of the public might be irritated at certain things," Gannon said. "So, what we develop as a coaching staff, and with the players, this is what we need to get done to win the game.

"That's what I'm concerned with. My level of patience is going down because we haven't done (those things) for two weeks."

But is that because the Eagles can't do those things due to personnel, or because they won't adjust?

So far, the answer appears to be both, and that's a very troubling sign.

Lane Johnson not back

Right tackle Lane Johnson, who missed the game Sunday for a personal matter, still hasn't returned as of Wednesday. Sirianni wouldn't comment further on Johnson's absence or even if he'll be back in time to play this Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

But left tackle Jordan Mailata, who missed the last two games with a knee injury, returned to practice Wednesday on a limited basis.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon: 'I don't have a scheme'