The Eagles are 2-3 and there has been no player criticized more through the first five weeks of the season than Jalen Mills.
The green-haired cornerback has had several rough moments so far and has been the target of anger for many fans. Some of that is deserved, some probably goes too far.
Mills isn’t oblivious too it all. He hears it and even told fans earlier this season to keep that energy up.
Mills on Tuesday sat down with NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Derrick Gunn for a Gunn-on-1 interview that will run in its entirety on Eagles Pregame Live on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Here’s a snippet from that sit-down:
Gunn: Why do you think people are singling out Jalen Mills?
Mills: We just came off a Super Bowl run, you know what I mean? Set a standard for myself. Not only for this organization, but for this city, playing at a very, very high level. Once you do show people that you can do that, that’s what they expect.
Gunn: Do you think criticism has been fair or unfair towards you?
NFL
Mills: I mean, criticism is what is is at the end of the day. Everybody, they value their own opinion. But at the end of the day, the criticism that I do have to take is from the coaching staff, some of the players on the team. That constructive criticism, where I can get better at, different spots I can put myself in to make plays.
Gunn: What do you wish those of us on the outside looking in knew about Jalen Mills and the position he plays?
Mills: I don’t know. As far as it goes, fans are doing what they’re supposed to do. They’re coming to the games and they’re cheering. If they see something they don’t like, they speak upon it. So as far as that goes, I don’t have an answer for that one.
That entire interview also included questions about his short spat with Fletcher Cox on the sideline Sunday, how receptive he would be to a move to the slot and why he avoided reporters for over a week.
After declining interview requests last week, Mills held a very brief media session with reporters in the locker room on Tuesday. That makes it very obvious that Mills is at least aware of all the criticism coming his way.
On Tuesday, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz tried to alleviate some of that criticism by saying the 68-yard pass Mills gave up against the Vikings was “more on me than him,” because he put Mills on a “big island.” Schwartz said Mills made some plays on Sunday too.
“I mean, it's one of those things when you're a corner, you're going to get beat,” Schwartz said. “I thought he bounced back well from that within the game and battled and did all the things a corner is going to do. I think it's just life as a corner.”
Well, it’s at least life as Jalen Mills right now. It doesn’t seem like the Eagles are in a hurry to change his role, so it’ll be up to Mills to silence his critics on the field.
