Darius Slay Throws Shade at Sean Desai, Matt Patricia in End-of-Year Comments

After starting the year 10-1 and well on their way to another top-seed in the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles lost five of their last six games to fall into a Wild Card spot. Then, they got blown out in the playoffs by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to end their season.

A big part of the downward spiral was the Eagles' inability to execute on defense. A change was made mid-season that moved defensive coordinator Sean Desai aside to let Matt Patricia take over play-calling. It ultimately didn't work because the defense didn't get much better.

Now that the season is over and reality is setting in, fingers are being pointed, deciding who is to blame for the mess. The latest to come out and point is Eagles' cornerback Darius Slay.

The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane (subscription required) reports that Slay feels former Eagles' defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson would have done a better job with the defense than Desai or Patricia.

Wilson was a candidate to take over the defensive coordinator position for the departed Jonathan Gannon, who was hired as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. But after the Eagles went with Desai for the job, Wilson was fired. He now is the DBs coach for the thriving Baltimore Ravens' defense.

Slay's feelings lead me to believe that it is possible that he and other members of the defense may have never fully bought in to Desai and his system because of their relationship with Wilson. To go from candidate for a promotion to fired is quite a turnaround. If players had a positive experience with Wilson, that might have stuck with them. Slay is basically confirming he at least did.

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