PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter avoided a multigame suspension for spitting on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak\u00a0Prescott, a league official confirmed Tuesday, leaving him eligible for the Week\u00a02 showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n
After days of uncertainty, the NFL fined Carter $57,222 but didn\u2019t impose an additional ban. The All-Pro defender already missed all but six seconds of the Birds\u2019 season-opening win last Thursday at Lincoln Financial Field. The league said the ejection will count as a one-game suspension. Carter will not appeal the fine.<\/p>\n
The incident occurred during an injury timeout after the opening kickoff. While players huddled around injured Eagles fullback Ben VanSumeren, Carter and Prescott exchanged words. Prescott spit in Carter\u2019s direction and taunted him, and Carter responded by spitting on Prescott\u2019s jersey in front of a referee.<\/p>\n
Carter was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and booted from the game. NFL officials explained to a pool reporter that spitting on someone is a \u201cdisqualifiable foul\u201d and a \u201cnon\u2011football act,\u201d as the league is ostensibly emphasizing sportsmanship this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a mistake that happened on my side, and it just won\u2019t happen again,\u201d Carter said afterward. \u201cI feel bad for my teammates and the fans out there, you know? I\u2019m doing it for them. I\u2019m doing it for my family also, but the fans, they show the most love. You heard them out there today.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt won\u2019t happen again. I can make that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the third high-profile spitting incident in sports recently. University of Florida defensive lineman Brendan Bett was ejected for spitting on South Florida offensive lineman Cole Skinner late in Saturday\u2019s game. The act led to a 15-yard penalty that helped USF seal an 18\u201316 upset victory. After the Leagues Cup final on Aug. 31, Inter Miami forward Luis Su\u00e1rez was involved in a physical altercation and spit on Seattle Sounders security director Gene Ramirez. He was banned six games, starting with next season\u2019s Leagues Cup, and three additional games in MLS.<\/p>\n
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said Carter would face internal discipline but details would remain \u201cin-house.\u201d Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio wasn\u2019t happy about Carter\u2019s behavior, saying on Tuesday at NovaCare Complex, \u201cyou\u2019ve got to be focused on the job at hand, and extracurricular stuff can\u2019t matter to you.\u201d Fangio\u2019s task in Week 1 was to reshape his defensive line on the fly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing that happens is now you\u2019re down to four D-linemen and everybody\u2019s rep count has to go up,\u201d Fangio said, citing Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo and Byron Young. \u201cSo to me, that\u2019s the biggest adjustment. You lose the player, which is no good on multiple fronts, but it\u2019s a rep thing, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did fine,\u201d Fangio added about the trio. \u201cObviously it could be better. We didn\u2019t shut down the running game by any means. We all could have been a little better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis logged 53 snaps \u2014 the most he has ever played in a non\u2011overtime game \u2014 and Fangio said the 6\u2011foot\u20116, 340\u2011pound tackle\u2019s improved conditioning was evident. Davis showed up at training camp in the best shape of his life.<\/p>\n
With Carter sidelined, Young and practice\u2011squad call\u2011up Gabe Hall provided a jolt. Young contributed to a deflected pass that nearly became an interception, and Hall saw his first meaningful NFL action, though he was waived on Tuesday. Ojomo had a tackle and a QB pressure. Fangio said the rotation must continue to improve against Kansas City\u2019s potent offense.<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n
Secondary concerns: Fangio wants better technique in the secondary. Second outside corner Adoree\u2019 Jackson, opposite Quinyon Mitchell, mostly struggled against Dallas, though he showed some decent coverage as the game progressed. Fangio stressed that Jackson needs to be a \u201cmaster technician\u201d because of the Chiefs\u2019 talented receivers.<\/p>\n
He plans to keep rookie Cooper\u00a0DeJean at nickel cornerback, at least for now, even though injuries forced him outside briefly against the Cowboys.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreferably, we want to keep him at nickel,\u201d he said, a day after Sirianni called DeJean \u201cone of the best nickels in the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n
At linebacker, Fangio shifted rookie Jihaad\u00a0Campbell to an edge role, something he normally reserves for Zack\u00a0Baun when Nakobe\u00a0Dean is healthy. Campbell and Baun both made impact plays in coverage; Fangio credited their preparation and noted that practice mishaps earlier in the week underscored the importance of rehearsal.<\/p>\n
The defensive coordinator expects veteran edge rusher Za\u2019Darius\u00a0Smith, signed late last week, to contribute eventually but admitted he hasn\u2019t seen Smith on the field and doesn\u2019t know when he will be ready.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, he offered reserved praised the safety rotation, explaining that Sydney\u00a0Brown was slated for base snaps while rookie Andrew\u00a0Mukuba handled nickel duties. The plan went awry when Dallas began playing three wide receivers almost exclusively, forcing Mukuba into extended duty.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did OK,\u201d Fangio said. \u201cHe had a couple major busts that hurt us and could have hurt us even more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n
NOTES: VanSumeren (patellar tendon) is likely out for the season, though the team has yet to confirm. Backup running back Will Shipley (ribs) is expected to miss extended time, possibly a couple months. \u2026 The Chiefs may be without three WRs on Sunday. Xavier Worthy (shoulder) is day-to-day, Jalen Royals (knee) is doubtful, and Rashee Rice (suspension) is suspended six games for violating the NFL\u2019s personal conduct policy related to a multi-car crash involving street racing in 2024. \u2026 Sirianni became the eighth coach in NFL history to begin his career with five straight season-opening victories, joining George Allen, Raymond Berry, Potsy Clark, Jim Harbaugh, John Harbaugh, Sean McVay and Mike Shanahan. \u2026 The Birds have won seven consecutive games dating back to Week 17 of last year (a 36-33 loss at Washington) and 17 of their last 18.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.<\/p>\n
Originally Published: September 9, 2025 at 5:42 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter avoided a multigame suspension for spitting on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak\u00a0Prescott,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2068],"tags":[25,7,476,6,242,109,2476,7960],"class_list":{"0":"post-356010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-eagles","8":"tag-eagles","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jalen-carter","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","14":"tag-philadelphiaeagles","15":"tag-vic-fangio"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115178235848573747","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}