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It’s really hard to make an argument that the Philadelphia Eagles will be underrepresented at the Pro Bowl. Eight players received invitations to the league’s All-Star game, with another nine guys getting recognized as Pro Bowl alternates. That is a ton of respect given to the NFL’s top team.
But a serious case could be made that at least one stud was snubbed. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave has posted a career-high 10 sacks through 14 games. The 6-foot-2, 305-pounder leads all players in sacks at his position while ranking No. 12 in the entire league. He has been a disruptive force along the interior of the Eagles’ line.
Hargrave addressed not being selected to the Pro Bowl earlier this week, telling the Philadelphia Inquirer that he was “definitely disappointed” and plans to use the snub as fuel for motivation. Here’s what the former Pittsburgh Steeler told Josh Tolentino:
What else do I have to do? I’m definitely disappointed. But there’s nothing I can really do about it now. I’m going to dominate. It adds a little more fuel, a little more motivation going into these games.
I would think [double-digit sacks] gets you in, but I guess they don’t feel that way. I’ll use this as motivation to get my mind right for this game [against the Cowboys]. I don’t really be surprised by things like that. I think about the worst anyway when I think about [awards]. It is what it is.
Technically, Hargrave has one Pro Bowl appearance under his belt. He was named an alternate in 2021 and made the trip to Las Vegas after Green Bay’s Kenny Clark dropped out. Still, the man with 36.5 career sacks wants to earn it outright.
‘A Philly Special Christmas’ Album Released
Jason Kelce and his offensive linemates officially released their “A Philly Special Christmas” album to the masses on Friday. It is available for streaming on Spotify and features seven festive holiday favorites, including White Christmas, Silent Night, and Santa Claus is Coming Town, among other classic songs.
Sales of the green-tinted vinyl raised more than $250,000 for the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center. Kelce and company did three separate pre-order opportunities and sold it out each time. The record was “born out of friendship and a love of Philadelphia,” according to their website.
Eagles Prioritized Rushing the QB, Recording Sacks
The Eagles struggled to sack the quarterback in 2021 and their 29 total sacks were the second-worst team total in the NFL. The organization made it a priority to turn a weakness into a strength this season. Mission accomplished. The Eagles lead the entire league with 55 team sacks, thanks to some extraordinary individual performances.
Pro Bowler Haason Reddick has a team-high 12 sacks, followed by Javon Hargave (10) and Josh Sweat (9.5) and Brandon Graham (8.5), and Fletcher Cox (6.0). Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon recently discussed how they fixed the problem.
“It’s always a priority of ours philosophically to affect the quarterback,” Gannon told reporters. “You can do that a lot of different ways. We came out of last year knowing that we have to do a little bit better in this area, and it’s not a winning stat to me but you do want to affect the quarterback. I think that being the second year in a system for those guys, I think that adding some pieces, getting [Brandon Graham] BG back, adding [Haason Reddick] Haas, the players are making a bunch of plays.”
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