Jobs for Eagles' coaches are at stake, even though playoffs aren't, in finale vs. Washington

Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz didn't want to talk about his performance this season, or whether he'll return next season.

In fact, he didn't want to talk about anything that didn't have to do with either the Eagles' most recent game against the Dallas Cowboys or the season finale against the Washington Football Team on Sunday night.

"Those are after-the-season questions, and it doesn't do a service to us to start talking about that now," Schwartz said. 

Schwartz, however, doesn't talk to the media after the season, something he chuckled at when that was brought up.

"I think it's never happened," he said about having press conferences after the season. "I think part of professionalism is you keep your focus just on that game, and like I said, there's too much at stake."

Actually, there's very little at stake for the Eagles (4-10-1), who were eliminated from winning the NFC East in a 37-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. There is plenty at stake for Washington (6-9), which can clinch the division title with a win Sunday night.

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If the Eagles win, then the winner of the Giants-Cowboys game will win the division.

Schwartz said he instituted a "no-hat rule," meaning he doesn't want an opponent to celebrate clinching a playoff spot against his team, with the requisite baseball caps and T-shirts. 

But some of the Eagles are playing for something else: jobs. 

That includes the coaching staff, such as Schwartz, who has been the defensive coordinator ever since Doug Pederson became the head coach in 2016. 

The Eagles have allowed at least 500 yards in each of the last two games. As a unit, the Eagles rank 21st in total defense, allowing an average of 371 yards per game, and 22nd in points allowed, allowing 26.5 points per game.

In Schwartz's previous four seasons, the Eagles had never been worse than 15th in points allowed per game.

It was clear the Eagles couldn't overcome the injuries and lack of depth.

Against the Cowboys, the Eagles had free agent rookie Michael Jacquet trying to cover receivers Michael Gallup (121 yards receiving) and then Amari Cooper (also 121 yards).

That has been a common theme on offense, defense and special teams.

Sure, the roster is the domain of Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, and surely, he has assembled an aging roster that has broken down often this season.

Pederson, for one, said that has sabotaged this season for the Eagles.

"You got to look at the injuries, No. 1, and the amount that's piled up on us and the amount of guys on injured reserve," Pederson said. "And then so many young players. You look at our team (Sunday) and there are so many new faces out there, so many young players out there playing."

Eight of the players who got at least nine snaps on defense Sunday had never played a snap in the NFL before this season.

Jacquet had 40 snaps before Schwartz mercifully pulled him in the third quarter.

"It's a little bit like a pitcher," Schwartz said. "Sometimes you don't have your best stuff, and (the manager) has got to go to the bullpen."

So Schwartz did, moving Jalen Mills from safety back to corner, where he played his first four seasons. That helped, as Mills and Darius Slay held down the Cowboys receivers for the rest of the game.

But that opened up the middle for Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, who had 78 of his 105 rushing yards in the second half.

Those injuries have also affected special teams, as the units were exploited for a blocked punt, a fake punt, poor kickoff returns and too many fair catches on punts. 

So when asked what has gone wrong, special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said he's "not going to get into all of that stuff."

Then he added: "I think coaches focus really a lot on the process. I know the outside world focuses a lot on the outcome. There are a lot of things in the outcome that I think any individual coach can't necessarily control.

"In terms of how I evaluate myself, I would say that there's always room for improvement ... I'm not going to make excuses. We haven't done well enough. We’d like to be better."

Of course, injuries aren't unique to the Eagles. Besides, two years ago, the Eagles were similarly decimated in the secondary, and they rallied to make the playoffs.

"The way I consider all that stuff is that's just part of this job," Schwartz said. "You're going to be shorthanded sometimes ... It's part of the challenge of this job, trying to figure out a way to solve those problems.

"At times this year we haven't done a good enough job with that. I haven't done a good enough job with that. That's just part of the NFL, and there's no excuses in this league."

But there's still the possibility of no hats on the field after the game.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.