Jalen Carter is already a two-time Pro Bowler, a Super Bowl champion and the highest paid defensive tackle in NFL history. And he’s still just 25. So what’s next for Carter as he enters Year 4 of his NFL career? “Just to be a consistently dominant player,” defensive line coach Clint Hurtt said. “Not just the flash plays but consistently dominant down in and down out, doing the little things the right way. I would say this training camp has been a commitment and a start of that, so that’s what I’m proud of seeing from him.” Carter just before the start of training camp signed a four-year, $152 million contract that made him the highest-paid defensive tackle in the NFL at $38 million per year. And then he showed why during training camp. As Hurtt said recently, “You can tell he’s healthy.” After dealing with injuries in both shoulders — injuries that sapped his strength and required injections during 2025 — Carter was explosive and powerful again during this training camp. Because he was healthy, Carter was able to use his hands more and was violent with them. “I mean, it makes the game easier for everybody when he can be at the best version of himself,” Hurtt said. “We saw that in ’24 and that’s the expectation.” It wasn’t like Carter was bad in 2025. He made his second straight Pro Bowl and still managed to have 3 sacks, 12 QB hits, 5 TFLs and 7 pass breakups in just 11 games. But those injuries clearly affected him. The hope going forward is that Carter is healthy. And if he’s healthy, the next level in his development is for Carter to find more consistency in his game. That’s where Hurtt comes in. How do the Eagles help Carter find that consistency?  “Just keep holding him accountable every single day,” Hurtt said. “Also, he’s a very smart player. You just can’t say it; you’ve got to show him where, ‘You’re getting away with this because you’re so athletically gifted, but here’s where it’s hurting you. And if it’s hurting you, it’s hurting us.’ Little things like that with him. To his credit, very coachable player from that standpoint. That’s been the improvement with him.” Hurtt, the Eagles’ veteran defensive line coach, came to Philly in 2024 and has been Carter’s position coach the last two years. The two have a strong bond, but Hurtt certainly doesn’t take it easy on his most talented player.  He coaches him hard. And Carter responds to that coaching. “He doesn’t fight back against things and whatnot,” Hurtt said. “Sometimes there’s going to be things because he’s such a smart player that he might see something and go take a shot that might be outside the realm of what we want him to do. But I can tell him, ‘Hey, here’s the issue here of why you can’t do it.’ And he’s like, ‘All right, I got it.’ It’s not a problem. Coaching him and correcting the football stuff, no issues there with JC.” After signing his extension this summer, Carter is now under contract through the 2031 season, when he’ll still just be 30 years old. Carter has already been worthy of the No. 9 overall pick the Eagles used to draft him in 2023 and he’s just now entering this prime. The Eagles didn’t pay Carter for what he has already done; they paid him for what he’s going to do. Sometimes, there might be a concern that after a player gets paid, his motivation will wane. Hurtt does not have that concern with Carter. “I don’t worry about that with any of those guys,” Hurtt said. “They’ve been working all their lives to get to this point. I never felt like they were the type of guys that would try to protect themselves because they’re worried about it. They’ve been more concerned about winning. Every place that they’ve been in their life, they’ve been with a winning program. At Georgia and since they’ve been here. So the payday stuff has never been a part of it. That’s just part of what happens when you’re successful as a team. You get rewarded. “ ...read more read less