Vinny Curry played through an MCL injury in 2016
By Ryan Quigley
An injury is possibly what hindered Vinny Curry in 2016.
A good portion of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ fanbase was none too pleased with defensive end Vinny Curry last season. His first year after signing a five-year, $47.5 million contract extension, Curry had one of the worst seasons of his professional career. In 16 games, he registered just 26 tackles and 2.5 sacks, which is equivalent to the total of disappointing former first-round pick Marcus Smith.
Apparently, however, Curry probably shouldn’t have been playing in a lot of those games.
While speaking on 94WIP over the weekend, Curry announced that he had suffered an injury to his MCL prior to the Eagles’ Week 1 game against the Cleveland Browns.
"I messed my MCL up. I tried to play through it and in the long run it ended up hurting me. It is going to be a better year, everything has been perfect so far."
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Whether Curry’s poor 2016 season came as a result of his injury, the Eagles wasted no time bringing in competition for the soon-to-be 29-year-old edge defender. This offseason, the Eagles signed former New England Patriots defensive end Chris Long and drafted Tennessee’s Derek Barnett with the No. 14 overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Curry remains a vital component to the Eagles’ front seven, however. As noted by Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com, he pressured opposing quarterbacks 282 times on 436 snaps last season despite his low sack total.
A healthy Curry will certainly give the Eagles’ defensive line an extra boost. Not that it’s really needed. With Fletcher Cox, Timmy Jernigan and Brandon Graham also attacking the quarterback, Philadelphia’s front seven figures to once again be one of the top units in the league.