A Q&A with Eagles DC Juan Castillo

Safe to say the first three games of his career as a defensive coordinator have not gone quite as well as Juan Castillo hoped.

The Eagles are 1-2, theyve blown fourth-quarter leads in consecutive games for the first time in 22 years, theyve allowed eight touchdown passes in the last two games and Castillo -- in his first year as a defensive coach above the high school level -- seems to be Public Enemy No. 1 in Philly these days.

On Monday, a day after his defense gave up four touchdown passes to Eli Manning in a 29-16 loss at the Linc, Castillo sat down with CSNPhilly.com, answered questions for 15 minutes and spoke about the way things have gone so far for him and his embattled defensive unit.

Heres our Q&A with Castillo, who is now in his 17th year as an assistant coach with the Eagles and has been an Eagles coach longer than anybody else in franchise history:

Q: How disappointing is it that you had guys in position to make plays against the Giants Sunday but they didnt make them?

Castillo: If you keep working hard, sooner or later, those plays are going to start happening for us. They will. They always have in the past. Our guys, they're playing hard. You saw that excitement there in the fourth quarter when we stopped them on third-and-5. That was a big play. We gave up two big plays early in the game, one we missed a tackle, the other was a bad read, but they were able to come back and we were really playing pretty well. The thing is, you've got to finish the game. We gotta finish the game.

Q: Why have you guys been unable to finish games? Youve allowed 14 and 15 fourth-quarter points the last two weeks and blown a fourth-quarter lead in both games.

Castillo: "Those are the things that were looking at right now, to see what we can do to help that. Some of it is being able to make the plays when youre in the position to make plays. Continue to work the fundamentals. Stay the course. Weve been here in this position before, unfortunately, probably more times than we want to say. It seems like we always start off like this. Weve always believed, to stay the course. Work hard, fundamentals. At this point, stretch yourself even more. Extra film work. Extra drills after practice -- we'll stay after practice this week. We have a couple things that we're going to work on with the guys, to continue to get over the hump."

Q: People were stunned when Andy Reid named you defensive coordinator, and now a lot of fans are questioning the move again. How are you handling that?

Castillo: I have a job to do, right? Im going to succeed, for Coach Reid, for the city, for my family. This is an opportunity, this is a challenge, this is a job. We're all men. We all have had challenges before. So, come on, let's go. You work harder. You lead by example. You don't panic. You have a plan. We believe in our plan. Weve played some good series; now weve just got to continue to keep hammering away. We all get tested. I think weve all been there, where we get tested to see what were made out of. I think its good for the players, because they want to see how I react. Does he really have a plan, does he believe in his plan, hows he going to handle the meetings? Does he have confidence in himself? I think all those things are important, and that the players will see, that we do have a plan.

Q: There seems to be a weird pattern in the last two games, where you guys get off to a bad start, have two great quarters, then finish poorly. Any idea why?

Castillo: When you look at each game, I think its been a different thing. This game, as far as people trying to run the ball, they were not able to do thatWe gave up a couple of big plays. Thats what hurt usThen we came back and settled down. Then in the fourth quarter, you have to make plays. I have to do a better job of putting them in position to make plays.

Q: Sunday was not a strong game for Nnamdi Asomugha. Whats up with him? Is he having trouble adjusting to playing primarily zone?

Castillo: Nnams gonna make plays. Yall will see that. Nnam will make some plays.

Q: Overall, pass pressure has been terrific. The Eagles lead the NFL with 12 sacks -- all from the defensive line. But the last two weeks, the pass rush has been quiet in the fourth quarter -- just one sack, on the first play of the fourth quarter against the Giants. Why the dropoff?

Castillo: The thing you have to understand is that the game is a four-quarter game, as we now know, because of the last two games. So when you keep pressure, you have to keep pressure the whole game. Its a thing where everybody has to play four quarters. Thats what we have to be able to do that we have not be able to do.

Q: Seems like pass pressure has been largely absent since Juqua Parker left the Atlanta game with a high-ankle sprain.

Castillo: Theres a rotation and when all of a sudden when youre missing a key guy like that, it affects it. The thing about those guys, when you watch them, theyre going full-blow. Its full-blow, full-tilt. So that rotation is important for those guys because they need those breathers.

Q: Are you still optimistic about this defense?

Castillo: Its going to be all right, because all the guys are playing hard, theyve bought in, theyre playing fast -- its a matter of just keep plugging away, plugging away, and then all of a sudden those plays will become our plays.

Q: Will Brian Rolle replace Casey Matthews in the starting lineup?

Castillo: Today is Monday. Well see on Wednesday. B-Rolle has been playing well. Casey, really, he gave up that one big play, you know, but he had a solid game in the run game. You saw him make some tackles. Hes getting better and better. Those young guys, thats what happens with those young guys. Theyll get better and better and better and better.

Q: Second-round pick Jaiquawn Jarrett has been inactive for all three games. How close is he to being ready to play?

Castillo: Hes coming along well. I mean, hes an explosive guy. We know hes a good football player, its just a matter of him understanding our scheme and really not just understanding but feeling comfortable with it and then the communication part with everybody. Thats big, being able, with all the formations and all the movement and shifts, being able to communicate and really those safeties are the quarterbacks back there.

Q: Obviously, you have some safety issues. Do you see Jaiquawn starting to contribute in the next several weeks?

Castillo: The lockout makes it harder. Not to say that its not going to happen, but its a week-by-week thing that we look at and see where hes at during practice and see where hes at mentally.

Q: Do you need to bench somebody?

Castillo: Right now, its still Monday, so weve got a couple of days to look at all those things and then prepare for San Francisco and see where we go.

Q: How encouraged or discouraged are you right now?

Castillo: Its like anything else. You work hard, you have a plan, you have to believe, and if you believe and your players know you believe, then it happens. ... Just like I told them in meetings, Hey, Im responsible for this, well take care of that. You know what? That ball on the goal-line? You know what were going to do? After practice, were going to catch some long balls. You know, the DBs are going to catch some deep balls and just make sure that if that happens again, we come down with the ball. ... Those are the kinds of things. Inside, they know what they have to do. And keep busting your ass, keep working hard and then its going to happen.

E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com.