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Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox watched his streak of six consecutive Pro Bowl appearances end this week. He was skipped over by voters for Aaron Donald, Jonathan Allen, and Kenny Clark. In fact, the former 12th overall pick wasn’t even selected to be an alternate for the NFC team.
Cox could have sat and sulked about this year’s omission, but that’s not his style. The 6-foot-4, 310-pounder was the first to admit that the way he started the 2021 campaign wasn’t good enough to warrant a Pro Bowl spot. He and new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon were mired in a public spat after a sideline exchange went viral in Week 7. From there, the two talked it out and helped turn around an Eagles’ season that had been spiraling out of control.
“I know I can still play at that level,” Cox said of the Pro Bowl miss. “Obviously, I didn’t have the numbers this year, it was kind of up and down for me, and I kind of expected it but all I can do is go out and finish the season strong. And I still know that I’m one of the best D-tackles in the league so I’m not salty about it at all. I’m happy for the guys that made it. And even happy for [Javon] Hargrave. I know he’s an alternate and I’m happy for him. It’s always good. I know I can continue to get better and I’ll be back next year.”
Cox resurrected his season in a major way. He has drawn double teams on a weekly basis which has freed up free rushes to the quarterback for Josh Sweat (five sacks), Derek Barnett (two sacks), and the aforementioned Hargrave who has a team-high 7.5 sacks. Both Sweat and Hargrave were listed as Pro Bowl alternates.
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Cox Named Week 15 Player of the Game
Cox enjoyed his best game of the season in Week 15 and finished with two sacks, plus one forced fumble and three tackles. Gannon was quick to praise the veteran pass rusher while revealing Cox was the Eagles’ defensive player of the game in that one. It was the first time he won the award so far this season.
“Played his a** off. I mean, he affected the game for us and he doesn’t know this, but he’s going to get Player Of The Game,” Gannon said. “He’s in the quarterback’s lap all day long, he got the sack into the two minute, had a couple hits on the quarterback, played extremely well in the run game. He really affected the game for us. As I like to call it, you guys have heard me say it, he train-wrecked the game.”
Eagles Elevate Extra Pass Rusher to Roster
Philadelphia elevated Cameron Malveaux to the active roster after placing Ryan Kerrigan on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. The team also added offensive tackle Casey Tucker to the practice squad to fill the practice-squad slot vacated by Malveaux.
Tucker will embark on his fourth stint with the Eagles after being cut, waived, and re-signed multiple times. They originally picked him up as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Arizona State in 2019. Meanwhile, Malveaux has two career NFL sacks during stints with Miami, Arizona, Cleveland, San Francisco, Washington, and Kansas City.
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