Pederson Defends D-Line: 'Easy To Speculate If You've Never Played The Position'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Fletcher Cox has not recorded a sack in seven games.
The 25-year-old defensive lineman signed an extension for over $100 million this offseason and heightened expectations come with that.
Although Cox has been dominant against the run and was graded as the Eagles' second best defender by Pro Football Focus in Monday night's 27-13 loss to the Packers, his impact has been minimal of late.
Related: Eagles Studs And Duds: Week 12
"Well, I think he draws a lot of attention," Doug Pederson said on Tuesday. "He draws a lot of double teams. He gets a lot of hands on him. He still is very -- at times is very disruptive and can be a force inside. It's just, mentally he's good, physically he's good. It's just a matter of just the sheer determination and wanting to get the job done. He's still a very capable defensive lineman for us. We do expect, and I do expect, a lot from guys like Fletcher. And he does, as well."
Between Cox, Brandon Graham, Connor Barwin, and Vinny Curry the Eagles have a ton of money tied up in the defensive line, a unit they expected to be among the best in the NFL. However, after a fast start the Eagles have just 1.0 sack in their last two games (0-2).
Pederson says sometimes it's hard to evaluate the position if you've never played it.
Related: Knee-Jerk Reactions: Goodbye Playoffs?
"If you've never played that position or played this level of football, I think it's easy to speculate and see, you know, what's going on," Pederson said. "But at the same time, these guys are working extremely hard to get to the quarterback. It's not that they don't want to. The effort is there. The determination is there. Again, when you are a good player, you are going to get a lot of double teams. You are going to get a lot of chips. It just slows down. I preach it to our offensive guys all the time. Slow down the pass rush. How do you do that? You do it with chips. You do it with double teams. You do it with extra tight ends in the game. Sliding your protection. It's difficult. It is tough. The thing is, how fast did Aaron Rodgers get the ball out of his hands? How are you going to get to the quarterback when he gets it out of his hands so fast? It's tough. It's extremely hard."
According to Pro Football Focus, the Eagles recorded just nine pressures on 41 Aaron Rodgers' dropbacks. Rodgers, who was knocked down just twice, went 30-39 for 313 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
