Zack Baun has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.
How long had it been since an Eagles linebacker won the award?
Well, Baun is teammates with the son of the last guy to do it … so it’s been a while.
Jeremiah Trotter Sr. was the last Eagles inside linebacker to win an NFC Defensive Player of the Week award for his performance in Week 7 of the 2005 season. So it has been well over a decade since the last one.
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Baun is giving the Eagles the type of linebacker play we haven’t seen in this city in quite some time.
Against the Cowboys, Baun filled up the stat sheet with 8 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recover and 1 tackle for loss. He did all of that before he and the rest of the starters were pulled in the fourth quarter of the 34-6 win over the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.
“Zack’s a great athlete,” head coach Nick Sirianni said after the win. “He's tough. You see him in the open field making tackles. You see him sticking his face in there in tight quarters. You see him being able to rush. He's on a streak right now of taking the football away and the ball being on his mind.
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“I just think he's a really good football player. The best compliment I can give a guy is he’s a really good football player. That happens when you're tough, you're physical, detailed and he’s playing really fundamentally sound and just getting better every time he steps out in the field.”
The Eagles signed Baun to a cheap one-year deal in free agency. While most thought he was going to be a situational edge rusher, veteran defensive coordinator Vic Fangio saw Baun as an inside linebacker and plugged him into the defense and hasn’t moved him since.
In his four years with New Orleans, Baun was a contributor but never took control of a full-time starting gig. He had 14 starts in 4 years with the Saints and has now started all 9 games with the Eagles in 2024 and is playing at a Pro Bowl level.
Baun on Sunday said he isn’t surprised by his success.
“No, I don’t think so,” Baun said. “I think through my time in New Orleans, of course people say I was an on-ball linebacker, but when I was in New Orleans, I was putting in the time, putting in just the same amount of work as the starters were. Just to prepare for a moment like this, my opportunity. And all I had to do was take advantage and just let it fly.”
Baun is the second Eagles player to be named as a Player of the Week this season after Saquon Barkley has been a three-time winner:
Week 1 - Saquon Barkley - NFC Offensive Player of the Week
Week 7 - Saquon Barkley - NFC Offensive Player of the Week
Week 9 - Saquon Barkley - NFC Offensive Player of the Week
Week 10 - Zack Baun - NFC Defensive Player of the Week
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