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Bowen: Eagles' defensive backfield is in attack mode

LAST YEAR, the Eagles had a defensive backfield coach named Cory Undlin, and he presided over a unit that allowed a franchise-record 36 touchdown passes.

LAST YEAR, the Eagles had a defensive backfield coach named Cory Undlin, and he presided over a unit that allowed a franchise-record 36 touchdown passes.

This year has a different scheme and a largely new coaching staff, and the Eagles haven't allowed a touchdown pass through three games, even though one of their starting cornerbacks has been injured since the opener, and a seventh-round rookie is getting lots of snaps there.

Clearly, the new defensive backfield coach must have made a huge difference. What's his name? We really need to talk to this fellow. Let's see, I'm going down the list now, there it is, defensive backs - oh. Cory Undlin?

"I'm still teaching and demanding the same stuff - technique and effort," Undlin said Tuesday, as he looked forward to a break later in the bye week for a little fly-fishing in northern Pennsylvania. Undlin said that, more than anything he has done, new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz "and his philosophy, the things we're doing on defense have a little bit to do with that."

"I think it goes back to the pass rush and the way the guys up front are honing in and attacking the quarterback. It doesn't make it any easier, but it takes a little of the heat off those guys back there. And we've only played three games. We have a long way to go."

In Sunday's 34-3 win over Pittsburgh, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was unable to carve up the Birds secondary the way many observers predicted he would.

"It takes a lot of stress off everybody when those guys can move him around and not give him a clean look and (not) let him get rid of the ball on time," Undlin said.

Undlin, who also has coached in Denver, Cleveland, Jacksonville and New England, knows that, while a good position coach can teach and inspire, when it comes to results, he is largely at the mercy of the scheme his team plays and the talent management provides.

Undlin won't rip former defensive coordinator Bill Davis and his reactive 3-4 setup, in which the defensive backs mainly worried about not letting the ball get behind them. For one thing, Undlin knows the Eagles went to a 3-4 and hired Davis because that was the setup Chip Kelly thought gave his offense the most trouble, and the one he wanted the offense to practice against.

Undlin also is smart enough to know the Eagles' front seven personnel was always better suited to 4-3 than 3-4, and he lived through the undressing of Kelly's offense by opposing defenses last season, which helped lead to the defense facing 1,148 snaps - 71.75 per game. So far this season, with Doug Pederson running a much more varied, successful offense, the defense has faced 158 snaps in three games - 52.66 snaps per game. That's a lot fewer chances for the other team to throw a touchdown pass.

"Obviously, we've had a couple of balls that have gone over our head, but, as Jim would say, that's part of doing business out there for those guys. We're not backing down from anybody," Undlin said. "We're going to challenge everybody we can, and if they happen to throw one over there, the thing that we're stressing more than anything else is that if the ball gets caught, we need to do a great job of getting the guy to the ground, which is what's happened in every game so far."

Indeed, harried as he was by an Eagles defensive line that notched four sacks, Roethlisberger threw for 257 yards, 140 of them to Antonio Brown, who caught 12 passes. But Brown never got into the end zone.

The Eagles have gotten strong safety help this season from Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod, the latter a free-agent signee from the Rams. Walter Thurmond was solid opposite Jenkins last season, but Thurmond wasn't as physical as McLeod.

Undlin cited the first third-down play Sunday, on which Roethlisberger hit wideout Eli Rogers for 32 yards on third-and-5.

"Ended up getting a little loose there with (rookie corner Jalen Mills). Ball got caught down the sideline, and as soon as (Rogers) got it, Rodney was there two steps later, to blast him out of bounds," Undlin said. "There's a sense of calmness, knowing that we can go up and play as hard as we can, and that if we end up giving up a ball . . . You've got to get the guy on the ground. And it showed up all night."

Mills, the seventh-round rookie from LSU, "is as competitive as anybody in the room," Undlin said. "I knew early on that the kid was going to help us. I didn't know how much . . . He's got a ways to go now; we all do. But we're all proud of him, and the group as a whole."

Mills said after Sunday's game that he told Steelers star Brown after the final gun, "Thank you for the game, for the experience, and really just showing me now what I can improve on."

Mills gave up a long gain on a double move by Alshon Jeffery in the Chicago game, his first outing in an expanded role, as Undlin and Schwartz compensated for losing Leodis McKelvin to a hamstring injury.

"By the time he hit the sideline after that drive was over, he was already past it," Undlin said of Mills. "I didn't even have to say something - he pounded himself on the chest and said, 'I get it.' We had a short conversation about it, a couple of reminders on how to do it, but the kid plays aggressive, which is how Jim wants him."

Undlin said he also liked the way Mills "never blinked" while being targeted by the Steelers.

Jenkins, the leader of the defense, was asked what blasting the Steelers taught him about the group.

"The biggest thing is that we've got a really good front four, and a lot of guys that love to compete on the back end, a lot of hungry guys with a chip on their shoulder, that aren't afraid to take on a challenge," Jenkins said.

@LesBowen

Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog