Zack Baun put the exclamation point on the best performance of his NFL career with a game-ending sack of Packers quarterback Malik Willis to preserve the Eagles' 34-29 victory over Green Bay in Brazil.
Fifteen tackles. Two sacks. Both career highs in his first start, let alone his first game as an Eagle.
But once he returned home from São Paulo, his wife, Ali, ensured the family's 24-hour rule remained in effect. No matter the result, good or bad, Zack gets 24 hours to react to the performance, and then it's on to the next. It's a ritual the two have shared since they first met in 2016 at the University of Wisconsin.
"I try to stay not too high and not too low," Baun said at the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday. "There's so much more we can build off of.
"It's just step by step. That was just one week and I'm looking to grow."
Baun, 27, has experienced plenty of growth this offseason. After four years with the New Orleans Saints as a rotational defensive piece and special teams weapon, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound linebacker signed with the Eagles on the first day of free agency. The Eagles coveted Baun's ability to rush off the edge and cover in space. Baun thought his skill set would work well in new Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio's scheme, citing how the veteran coach deployed Andrew Van Ginkel last season in Miami.
"First off, he did good," Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio said on Wednesday at his weekly press conference about Baun's performance. "When I watched his play at New Orleans, the way they adjusted their defense in New Orleans on occasion, he would end up as an inside linebacker. Not very often. From those few plays, I thought he could do it. He's got the versatility from his experience of being an on-the-line guy to use that with him also and I think he'll just keep getting better and better."
"Everyone wants to be wanted, whether that's in life, that's in football, or anything. Everyone wants that sense of belonging," Baun said. "Since I've been here, it's been this overwhelming sense of confidence in me and I think that's allowed me to play at a really high level and play free and fast and allow me to be myself and not worry about mistakes during the game. They have the ultimate confidence in me and I just want to continuously prove it to them and prove it to myself that I could be a really good linebacker in the league and I could be a vocal linebacker and a leader on a team."
On the day Baun signed with the Eagles, one of the first players he met was fellow linebacker Nakobe Dean, who was in the players' lounge at NovaCare Complex. The two exchanged numbers and have grown close. They sit next to each other in the team meeting room. Now, they are the two starting off-ball linebackers as the Eagles look to build upon the win over the Packers on Monday night when the Atlanta Falcons come to town for the first game at Lincoln Financial Field this season.
"Seeing the game from his point of view has really helped me," Baun said. "He does a really good job of understanding what just happened where I might be a little more locked into my individual assignment. It's good to be on the same page because I know how he's going to play. He knows how I'm going to play and that's something that's rare in the league. To have that at this point is really crucial for this defense. It's really growing and blossoming into something special."
In New Orleans, Baun utilized the opportunity to learn from veterans like former Eagle Malcolm Jenkins and Demario Davis to help shape his leadership skills. After signing with Philadelphia, Baun's wife noted that it's one of the youngest teams in the league. Baun knew that he would have to expand both as a player and as a mentor.
"It's been good. It's been different," Baun said. "Now that I'm starting, coaches are putting me in positions to do more of that and show more of my voice and what I like and don't like and help guys along the way."
And the coaches are taking notice.
"A great indicator of how you're going to play in games is how you practice," Head Coach Nick Sirianni said. "You know, he's been relentless to the football. Relentless effort. That really showed up. That showed up with a lot of production in this game on Friday night."
"I try to be as intentional and intense in those situations as I am in the game because if you're lackadaisical in practice, it's going to carry over to the game," Baun said.
Baun did whatever the defense needed from him, whether it was as a pass rusher (two sacks, three pressures, team-high 23.1 percent pressure rate, according to Next Gen Stats) or in coverage (allowed just 3 catches for 11 yards, aided in safety Reed Blankenship's game-changing interception) from the first snap all the way to the end, playing all 67 snaps.
"Since I got in the league, I've prided myself on my versatility and I work really hard at a lot of different things and I think Vic is trying to use that to this defense's advantage," Baun said.
But he knows he isn't alone. On his first sack, where he flew off Jordan Love's blindside without the quarterback noticing, he praised everyone from Fangio to the play call to the coverage on the back end.
"A lot of that was attributed to scheme. I was free. I was unblocked. Secondary had great coverage, so he had no one to throw the ball to. With the D-line, Josh Sweat was on my side as well. He was spiking inside. You have to account for him. You can't just leave him unblocked. We have so many guys you have to account for, matched with a great scheme and a great play call at that time, led me to get a free sack," Baun said.
"It was kind of a layup sack for me."
Free agency provided Baun the opportunity to find a team that would value his contributions to the defense. And the Eagles discovered an ascending player who could be a versatile piece in a new defensive scheme.
"Letting me be myself has been crucial," Baun said.
