"The sooner we got some clarity on those situations, the sooner we could move forward," Babin said yesterday during a photo shoot at a Pitman, N.J., gym on behalf of a nutritional supplement company through which he hopes to market a protein bar.
Washburn indicated at the Senior Bowl a few weeks back that he was hugely frustrated to see his wide-nine blamed for much of the Eagles' defensive struggles in 2011. Babin is just as weary of jousting with reporters and fans, after the Birds tied for the NFL lead in sacks with 50, but somehow still managed to rank 30th in red-zone defense, and 24th in touchdown passes allowed.
"When something isn't working, and you have a new component, what's the first thing people look at? The new component," Babin said. "It's human nature. If we would have won, what's the first thing [analysts] would have looked at? The wide-nine."
Babin said the linebackers and defensive backs needed a while to learn how to play behind the new-look line, but they did, he feels.
"The last few games, people were like, 'Where was this defense?' It was the same defense, it just took a little while to click," Babin said. He said he agrees with his fellow d-end and hunting buddy, Trent Cole, who told the Daily News last week that the Eagles were "inches away" from being a dominant team, in that they were inches away from making the playoffs, and once you're there, you create your own destiny, as the Giants did in winning the Super Bowl.
Babin, who turns 32 in May, added that he expected all along that Eagles coach Andy Reid, defensive coordinator Juan Castillo and Washburn would return.
