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Eagles considering reducing DE Connor Barwin's playing time to help his production

The Eagles need more production from Connor Barwin, and one solution they’re considering to get more from him is to play him less.

The Eagles need more production from defensive end Connor Barwin, and one solution they're considering to get more from him is to play him less.

Barwin has nine tackles and one sack in five games this season. He is playing 79 percent of the defensive snaps this season – more than any other defensive lineman.

"He's a guy that can probably benefit from lesser reps and have maybe more production with lesser reps. We've been talking about that," defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. "It's just tough in game situations when you're not doing well, everybody starts pressing and you start trying to do too much. Maybe that includes playing too many reps. Connor is a good player when he's fresh and going, and he's no different than the rest of our guys that way. But … we're not disappointed in him."

Barwin, 30, has been one of the Eagles' best players during the past three years. That production came at outside linebacker, where he had more responsibility than any other player in the front seven. He is now a defensive end in Schwartz's scheme, and his responsibilities have changed. He insisted he would fit in the defense, and he entered the league as a defensive end.

Before the season, it seemed the Eagles would rotate their top three defensive ends. But Barwin and Brandon Graham (77 percent of the snaps) have far outpaced Vinny Curry (40 percent of the snaps). If the Eagles can find a balance among the three, it might help everyone – Barwin included.

"I like playing as much as possible," Barwin said. "I've played a lot of snaps my whole career. I understand what [Schwartz] was saying. If you look at the game last week, it looked like I wore down. And I was going against a good player and a good offense, but there were some snaps that I didn't look like myself. And it might have just been I wasn't fresh, or as fresh as I've been."

zberman@phillynews.com

@ZBerm