Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter finally talked to the media after ditching reporters on Monday night. I wanted to walk away from his comments feeling better about where his head is at. I didn’t.

As we covered previously, I ripped Carter a couple of days ago for his lack of accountability. That criticism didn’t come from a place of hate. It came from the opposite. I believe so much in his transcendent talent that I think his actions have to back it up, and they have not always been there. So when Carter stepped in front of the microphones, I was ready to give him a chance to redeem himself. Here’s what he had to say:

“People’s standards are bigger than what ours are coming into the season,” Carter said. “We all know it’s a fresh new season, it’s a fresh restart no matter what we did last year. The last three, four years don’t matter. It’s a whole new season, whole new group, new faces, new chemistry in the locker room. It’s a restart for us. We obviously know we have good players, but we don’t go out there saying just because we have good players we’re going to do this on the field.”

Some good, plenty of bad

To be fair, I listened to the full interview, and Carter did have some good moments. He talked about evaluating his own season. He said that he’s been trash, not up to expectations, and then he says, I guess not what the fans want, but it doesn’t really matter what they want.

Credit where it’s due on the first part. Admitting you haven’t played up to your standard is a step in the right direction. The back half of that answer, though? That’s where he loses me again.

Carter is really up and down for me right now. I love the guy. I love his talent. I think he can be a Hall of Famer. But you just can’t say things like this. You cannot.

Look, “people’s standards are bigger than what ours are coming into the season” is a cop-out. It’s an excuse. Really? You should have the highest expectations for yourself. You should have the highest hopes for yourself. Is he right that it doesn’t matter what the fans think? Sure. But the idea that you don’t walk into a season saying what you’re going to do just because you have good players is backwards.

You should absolutely go into the season confident. We’re going to go undefeated. We’re going to smack teams in the mouth. That’s the mentality a team with this much talent should carry. What Carter said gives off loser energy to me. I’m sorry, but it does.

This goes back to the culture in Philly

This ties right into the bigger conversation about team morale and Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni. If you’re a leader of men, your job is to get your guys riled up and rejuvenated. You can’t have your best players saying things like this out loud. Not when Philadelphia is trying to get its season back on track.

Carter speaks his mind, and I respect that to a point. Sometimes, though, he goes off on tangents, and he needs to be coached up a little better so these thoughts don’t leak out in front of a room full of reporters. In my opinion, this gives off really bad vibes. The Eagles need to wake up, and Carter needs to wake up too.

If Carter were just another guy on the 53-man roster, a backup defensive end fighting for snaps, fine. Nobody blinks. But he’s supposed to be the guy. He’s the anchor of this defense. When the anchor talks about lowering the bar, the whole room hears it.

Compare that to Eagles defensive back Cooper DeJean. He’s been getting cooked lately, and he knows it. But every week he comes out, looks genuinely bummed, and owns it. He says he’s not making plays and that it’s on him. No excuses, no shots at the fans’ expectations. That’s accountability.

Here’s the thing: I’m not giving up on Jalen Carter. The talent is too special, and he’s shown flashes that no other interior lineman in the league can match. But talent alone doesn’t make you the face of a defense. Owning the standard does. Until Carter starts holding himself to the same bar everyone else already has for him, this defense is going to keep waiting on a player who’s capable of so much more. Simple as that.