Eagles are learning to live with the abrasive Jim Schwartz

Jim Schwartz was livid.

The Eagles had just lost to the Ravens by a point, and several of his defensive backs, notably rookie cornerback Jalen Mills, had publicly questioned his call on Joe Flacco's touchdown pass just before the half.

Mills wasn't exactly criticizing his coach. During halftime, Schwartz had told his defense to blame him for the call. The Eagles coordinator would later say that he  took responsibility only because he wanted his defense to play aggressively in the second half. But Mills thought that it gave him carte blanche to speak freely.

"For sure, it wasn't the coverage I wanted," Mills said after the Dec. 18, 2016 loss. "But players play, and coaches make calls, and I have to make the play."

Schwartz ripped into his players, especially Mills, during the defensive meeting the next day, according to several who were there. No one, he said in his trademark growl, is to openly question his decisions, and no one is to talk to the media about what happens behind closed doors.

Schwartz's sometimes-abrasive demeanor had initially turned off some players, but at that point in his first season most had become accustomed to his methodology. The meeting ended, and that was to be the end of the subject.

But during his news conference the next day, when he was asked about the touchdown, Schwartz placed sole blame on third-year safety Jaylen Watkins, who was late to the ball.

"He made a rookie mistake right there," Schwartz said. "The quarterback pumped him and was able to make a big play on us."

When his comments started to appear on social media, several players were perturbed. Some veterans texted each other and noted the apparent duplicity. Why would Schwartz blame Watkins and talk out of school, they wrote, after he chastised the players for doing the same just a day before?

The leaders on defense eventually went to Schwartz and expressed their concerns, and he was receptive. It wasn't a deal-breaker because, for the most part, he publicly had the players' backs. But it was just another example of the occasionally rocky relationship that had developed between the two  sides last year.

"I think that was probably one instance where, from a player's standpoint, felt like a little bit of blame was put on us," safety Malcolm Jenkins said recently. "That's something we addressed last year, and for the most part he's been good."

Schwartz returns for a second season with most of the same faces on his side of the ball. His unit was solid in 2016, particularly through the first nine games. But there were sloppy setbacks throughout, and over a five-game span in the second half of the season the Eagles failed to hold an opponent under 26 points.

There will be improvement in Year 2. At least that is the narrative from both players and assistant coaches. They know the scheme better, and they know Schwartz better.

"I don't know," Schwartz said when asked if he thought his players related to him more this offseason. "You'd have to ask them that."

They had a difficult start.

"When he first got here last year he came in right off the bat and was assertive and aggressive with everybody," cornerback Ron Brooks said. "He needs control of the defense, and that's how it is whether it be people talking during walk-throughs, whether that be coaches, players, whatever.

"He don't want anybody talking but him. … So last year, people were like, 'Whoa.' "

Brooks had already experienced Schwartz in his Year 1 with the Bills. He knew what to expect. But some players hadn't been cursed out by a coach since high school. Bill Davis, Schwartz's predecessor, was as mild-mannered as defensive coordinators come. But Schwartz's aggressive scheme is an extension of his personality and how he motivates.

"The only time you hear him at practice is when somebody is doing something wrong," Mills said. "He'll chew you out. He wants guys to be dogs out there, guys to fly around, run full speed and make plays."

The meeting room is a little different. When Schwartz is pointing out a mistake on a film, he'll use a red or green laser and sometimes turn the pointer at the offending player.

"That's his favorite thing, whether the laser is red in the team room or green in one of the individual's room," Mills said. "He's definitely swiping it all over the place. Your eyes be jumping because you're trying to follow it up on the screen.

"And if you messed up on a play, he'll point it at you. He's not shy about that at all."

The meetings weren't only about the negative. Schwartz gave lessons on historical figures like civil rights activist Fred Shuttlesworth that were designed to convey messages about the culture he was trying to establish and the defensive system he was implementing.

Schwartz would also reward players for effort with gallons of lemonade from Chick-fil-A, although the players said that he hasn't pulled that card this year. The red and green lasers remain.

Schwartz could adapt, though. When he first arrived, he harped on Jenkins about his weight.

"In his mind his safeties in his defense should be no more than 210 pounds," Jenkins said. "So the whole offseason he's basically pestering me every day about my weight. But I guess he couldn't imagine somebody at 215 being able to cover slot receivers. So I had to wait to show him in person that I can actually pull this off."

And then there were times when the players thought Schwartz was needlessly inflexible. For instance, the defense had a word it would say in unison when the unit broke down after the Saturday meeting. During the losing streak, several players suggested a new word, but Schwartz refused, according to two Eagles.

Jenkins said that Schwartz has delegated more responsibility, however, in terms of policing by leaders  and in how the safeties and middle linebacker Jordan Hicks call and check in and out of plays this year.

"I think they understand how we plan, how we operate," Schwartz said. "The way we handle little things like meetings or accountability."

Schwartz is old school in many ways. While his record as a coordinator speaks for itself, modern players may be more inclined to tune out coaches who aren't initially successful or fail to maintain success. But Schwartz, who brought Brooks and several other of his former players with him to Philadelphia, does have his loyal soldiers.

"If your coach is not being hard on you and he's just lax, then people sometimes take advantage of it," Brooks said. "We don't do that here. Jim is going to be Jim. Me personally, I love him. Wherever he goes, if he needs me, I'll go with him."

A former head coach, Schwartz typically handles himself well on the podium. He knows when to pump up or when to avoid criticizing a struggling player. He joked after the Ravens game that he was giving Hicks' ear piece to Mills so the cornerback could approve of every call before it's made.

But he countered his pseudo critique by praising Mills. And while some players were irked by his response regarding Watkins and the shifting of fault – "The call wasn't the issue there, it's the execution," Schwartz said then — the safety said that he wasn't bothered.

"I'm hard on myself, so there's nothing that anybody outside of here can say – or a coach – that'll put me down," Watkins said. "I beat myself up about it. I was prepared to the take the blame."

Watkins may have grasped Schwartz's motive. But will every player – or at least enough of them – have a better understanding in Year 2?

"If you don't know Coach Schwartz and you don't know his personality, the way he comes off is abrasive at first," Brooks said. "But then when get to know him and understand the way he thinks, you listen to the message more so than to his tone of voice."