Eagles sideline reporter addresses controversial Craig Carton comments

Philadelphia Eagles sideline reporter and local sports radio host Howard Eskin addressed controversial comments recently made by FS1 and WFAN personality Craig Carton about the collapse of the 2023 Eagles. 

"So a few players have talked to (quarterback) Jalen Hurts about: 'Hey listen, you’ve got to connect more, you’ve got to be more emotional on the sidelines, you’ve got to be more a part of us,'" Eskin explained during a segment on the 94WIP morning program, as shared by Joey Chandler of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "The one player that’s probably more — I think the word demonstrative is probably too much of implying what’s going on — was (defensive tackle) Fletcher Cox. Fletcher is a stern guy and he was not happy with his emotion, but other players were the same way."

The latest Eagles-related drama began earlier in the week when Carton claimed on his FS1 program that the 2023 edition of the club endured "a problem that would splinter any group of men" as a once 10-1 team lost six of seven games, including a wild-card playoff contest, to end the season. Carton added at that time that the supposed problem "cannot be fixed," and he also said that "it will be very interesting to see if a high-profile player is no longer with the Eagles going into this season." 

ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter subsequently reported that somebody within the Eagles told him that "none of that S-word happened." Carton has since stood by his original story on multiple occasions, and Eagles insider Derrick Gunn shared that Hurts allegedly was "pulled in numerous directions" and "didn’t handle" a lot of pressure after the signal-caller signed a five-year contract extension reportedly worth up to $255M with $179.3M guaranteed last offseason.

"So Fletcher is the guy, and this is why this makes sense," Eskin continued. "From what I’ve been told, Craig Carton said, 'There is going to be a prominent player that may not be with the team next year because of this.' Well, Fletcher Cox has basically already said that he’s done... So Craig is going to say, 'Well, I told you a player wasn’t coming back.' It was not a fight, it was not a screaming match, it was not any of those things and he’s just one of the players that has talked to him..." 

Cox, 33, is set to reach free agency in March and could either retire or join a different team. 

Criticisms of Hurts' leadership abilities have hovered over the Eagles since at least December, and he may need to address those takes during springtime workouts if only to silence such chatter. While it's still unclear exactly what Carton may or may not know about the 2023 Eagles, it certainly seems as if the locker room dealt with issues related to something other than simply losing games over the second half of the campaign.