Philadelphia Eagles: 2 Thoughts on 2 areas where Derek Barnett must improve

2b. Let’s wrap this up by saying this. “96” can’t put the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense in a bad spot in 2020.

For his actions, Derek Barnett was fined $28,075 for that helmet-to-helmet hit at Lambeau and another $10,527 for the shot on Lewis. That’s a nice chunk of cheddar cheese even if you are making millions of dollars a year.

It was hard to blame anyone for comparing him to the less-than-stellar versions of Ndamukong Suh and the aforementioned Vontaze Burfict.

Fortunately, his head coach, Doug Pederson, and his defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz, rushed to his defense. If they aren’t calling him dirty, that should be good enough for the rest of us. They know him better than we do.

Based on what we’ve seen from him since then, it appears that they were right.

Each situation, though unfortunate, now looks like a lapse in judgment as Barnett’s track record now seems to be relatively spotless. Barnett is far from a dirty player. He’s actually a nice guy. Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe he’s too nice. He may want to develop a bit of a mean streak, without running afoul of the rules of course. That’s good for his team and his wallet.