Philadelphia Eagles: Top 3 reasons Fletcher Cox can win Defensive MVP
By Smit Bajaj
2. Fletcher Cox was never 100 percent healthy for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019.
The question is was Cox ever one-hundred percent healthy a season ago. The short answer is no. A 16-game season is enough to wear any NFL player down. Playing almost 80 percent of the defensive snaps won’t do much to combat that.
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Fletcher Cox got hurt in the 2018 playoff loss versus the New Orleans Saints and needed surgery on his foot that left his Week 1 status for the following season in question. He was tough enough to play but was limited in practice with a toe injury on the same foot that he had surgery on. Cox had a rocky start to the 2019 NFL season, to say the least. Might we be able to argue that some of that is the reason why that’s the case?
The double teams undoubtedly helped take a toll on an already battered body.
Evidence of that can be seen in a key Week 16 win versus the Dallas Cowboys. Cox was dealing with a tricep injury and was forced from the game when he took a direct blow to the area. That led to being limited at the practices that led up to the Wild Card Game versus the Seattle Seahawks. Cox started the season injured and ended the season in the same fashion.
Injuries are tough to evaluate because of how sporadic they can be. Cox was dealing multiple injuries throughout 2019, and they undoubtedly hurt his performance. If he’s healthy once we reach the dawn of a new season, he has a legitimate shot at the Defensive Player of the Year Award.