Eagles' Darius Slay says George Kittle's pregame comments 'triggered' Philadelphia's defense
The Eagles' defense throttled the 49ers' offense on Sunday afternoon and according to Darius Slay, San Francisco fans can thank tight end George Kittle.
During the buildup to Sunday's NFC championship game, the star tight end made some disrespectful comments about the Philadelphia defense.
"We'll see on Sunday, won't we?" Kittle said. "I mean, they've got six first-round draft picks on the D-line. They have physical guys in the secondary, physical guys at linebacker. Whatever you see on paper, sure.
"When you look on paper, you say, 'Yeah, we should be able to match physicality,' and things like that, and then you get on the field on Sundays and the film after the game will show you exactly what you're asking. I know we're going to come out and be violent and physical. I'm expecting them to be the same thing. But we'll see."
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During his weekly appearance on "The Darius Slay Show", Philadelphia's All-Pro cornerback gave some insight into how Kittle's comments triggered Jonathan Gannon's defense, and it was a major reason why Fletcher Cox and other guys were talking about "the Paper" afterward.
"When he said that we looked good on paper, in a football world, we know how to take that," Slay said. "That's basically saying not too physical. As a defense, with us being one of the best defenses in the league as well, we took that as kind of disrespect."