DeVonta Smith essentially tells Eagles fans not to blame Kenny Pickett for brutal miscue

For a brief moment, Philadelphia Eagles backup quarterback Kenny Pickett appeared to be doing his best Nick Foles impression. Emphasis on the word "brief."

Eagles franchise signal-caller Jalen Hurts suffered a concussion in the first quarter of the team's 36-33 loss to the Washington Commanders. Pickett was called upon in his stead and filled in admirably, for the most part. However, one costly play gave Philadelphia's NFC East rival a chance to steal the contest, which they ultimately capitalized on.

An uncharacteristic and potentially game-sealing drop by wide receiver DeVonta Smith ahead of the two-minute warning prompted Philly to settle for a field goal. Instead of a fresh set of downs in the red zone with the clock continuing to tick, they gave Washington time to score.

Addressing the media after the gut-wrenching defeat, Smith took accountability for the blunder, making it abundantly clear he doesn't think Pickett did anything wrong.

DeVonta Smith takes full blame off Kenny Pickett for brutal drop

"I just dropped it," Smith told reporters (h/t NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe). Moreover, the star pass-catcher admitted he called for Pickett to throw him the ball. Alas, he failed to haul it in, giving standout rookie passer Jayden Daniels and the Commanders plenty of time to march down the gridiron.

Frankly, Smith has a point. As easy as it is to point fingers at Pickett, he put the ball right on the money, hitting the former between the numbers. But at the same time, there were other instances in the fourth quarter alone where the latter could've positioned his team to win.

Pickett made multiple errant/mistimed throws to A.J. Brown in crunch time that could've resulted in first downs. He also missed severely underthrew running back Saquon Barkley on a wheel route that should've been a walk-in 50-plus yard touchdown.

While there are some positive takeaways from Pickett's relief performance, there were also some low points. As much as Smith wants to shoulder some public backlash from Hurts' understudy, Philadelphia's late-game meltdown goes beyond the lone albeit glaring slip-up.

Pickett completed 14-of-24 passes for 143 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He also took three sacks for a loss of 25 yards and was fortunate not to lose his fumble. Overall, it was a mixed-bag showing.