The Philadelphia Eagles bolstered their pass rush when they signed edge Za'Darius Smith earlier this month. He's since gone on to have a successful debut against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2, leaving Eagles fans to wonder what the future will hold as his playing time increases.
Although Smith accomplished a lot with limited snaps, it sounds like defensive coordinator Vic Fangio wasn't fully satisfied with his new pass rusher's performance.
"Yeah, I thought for coming in on such short notice, (Smith) made some good plays. Obviously, he can get a lot better too, which I think he will, with gaining more knowledge of what we're doing," Fangio said on Tuesday, per NBC Sports' Dave Zangaro. "But it kind of put to bed, they have this rule where in training camp, you have to have these acclimation periods, notepads -- they don't do acclimation periods for signings in season."
Eagles DC Vic Fangio Wants More From Za’Darius Smith
Smith still needs time to ramp up. He was unsigned throughout training camp, as he was looking for the right landing spot. Now that he has found that, it will take a couple of weeks for him to get to full speed.
In Week 2, Smith had 20 total snaps. Fourteen of them were pass rush reps, with the other six being running downs. In these plays, he had three solo tackles, two pressures, and a half sack. For a player who didn't play in the summer, that's a solid outing, especially when his 79.8 Pro Football Focus pass rush grade ranks fourth-best among 149 exterior defenders.
Regardless, the Eagles are Super Bowl champions, so their expectations are sky high. Especially on a defense run by Fangio. He's a no-nonsense kind of coach who has no problem calling his players out.
Smith does have some catching up to do. He's playing in a new system and scheme. There will be areas that he isn't fully comfortable with yet, and that only comes with time. Like Fangio said, there's no acclimation period during the season. The only place to showcase what he's learned is in the field.
As time goes on, Smith will gain more comfort in this defense and will see his snap count increase. Until then, he needs to do everything in his power to get as prepared as possible. Fangio will only put guys out there that he has confidence in, and Smith will need to earn that from his new coach.
Week 2 was a nice start for the newest Eagle, making for a good jumping-off point.