Darius Slay Says Eagles Defense 'Failed' Sean Desai After Being Replaced by Patricia

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay believes that the players are at fault for the demotion of defensive coordinator Sean Desai.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni stripped play-calling duties from Desai and gave them to Matt Patricia ahead of the team's 20-17 Week 15 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Patricia is now the team's de facto defensive coordinator while Desai is reduced to a lesser role. Slay reflected on this by taking responsibility for what happened to the first-year coach.

"As players, I feel it's out fault," Slay told reporters. "We failed him.... We all got a hand in that."

The Eagles are 10-4 and remain a contender in the NFC. However, the defense ranked 28th in points allowed and 23rd in yards allowed during Desai's 13 games as defensive coordinator, and the Eagles had lost two consecutive games and had surrendered 75 points across those matchups.

This now leads to Patricia running the defense, which is something Slay is familiar with from his time with the Detroit Lions. Although they had disagreements in Detroit, the relationship has reportedly improved and the Eagles will hope that Patricia can provide a necessary spark to the defense.

Early returns were not promising as the Eagles' defense allowed Drew Lock and the Seahawks to march down the field to score a late game-winning touchdown to send Philadelphia to its third-straight defeat.

Philadelphia will need significant improvement on defense to keep up with teams like the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, who both have high-powered offenses and put up those aforementioned 75 points.

The Eagles, who now have lost three straight, will look to grasp some positive momentum ahead of the playoffs and potentially secure an NFC East division title.