Eagles Notebook: Eagles' Fletcher Cox gets his due

IT WAS THE Fletcher Cox forced fumble that Jordan Hicks didn't recover Sunday afternoon that most impressed Hicks, the Eagles' opportunistic rookie inside linebacker.

"Oh, boy. That man. He is a man. Goodness gracious. You sit there and watch the film and you're in awe of some of the plays he makes," Hicks said yesterday when asked about Cox. The Eagles' fourth-year defensive end was named NFC defensive player of the week after sacking the Saints' Drew Brees three times Sunday, twice forcing fumbles. The first one, Hicks pounced on, giving him three recoveries in three games. The second one, Cox took care of himself.

"He threw (left tackle Andrus Peat) off of him, accelerated toward Drew Brees, got the ball out, got up, got the ball - you see everything he's good at in one play, right there," Hicks said.

What would Cox call what he did in that sequence?

"Finishing the play, is what I would say," Cox said yesterday. "Get the strip sack and you want to finish. Instead of getting up and dancing, see the ball, go and get the ball. That's finishing the play."

Nose tackle Bennie Logan is in his third season playing alongside Cox, who was drafted as a 4-3 defensive tackle, 12th overall in 2012.

"Drew Brees was pretty upset with that left tackle," Logan said. "He was pretty mad when Fletcher kept getting his hands on him. I think a few times I actually heard Brees cuss. I know for a fact he was frustrated when Fletcher kept getting in his face. But who wouldn't be when you got a guy like that breathing down your neck the whole time?"

"It's about time," Logan said, when asked about Cox' player of the week honor. "The guy's been dominating for the past two years and he's never gotten the recognition. So this game Sunday, when he blew up, people started paying attention.

"He means a lot to the defense. The havoc he causes, the turnovers he creates, the double teams. The guy is a force to be reckoned with every time he's on the field."

It would behoove the Eagles to get off to a fast start Monday night when they host the Giants at the Linc.

In their first five games, the Eagles have scored just three points in the first quarter and only 37 in the first half. That first-quarter total is tied for the lowest in the league. Their first-half total is 27th.

"It still just comes back to staying on the field on third down," offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said.

"You can see when we get a lot of plays - and we had close to 90 plays the other night - the ball gets spread around. Nobody's asking why this guy didn't touch the ball or that guy didn't touch the ball. You're getting a lot of completions and you're getting yards rushing. We just have to stay on the field."

The biggest challenge for the Eagles on defense Monday will be getting off the field on third down. They are tied for 26th in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert 42.1 percent of their third-down opportunities.

In the last two games, their opponents converted 17 of 33 third-down tries, including 12 of 23 third downs of 5 yards or more.

"The last two weeks, our third down (defense) has been terrible," defensive coordinator Bill Davis said. "It's a combination of things. If it was one thing, you would change it. But we've looked at it hard. Sometimes it's technique. Sometimes we could have been in different coverage. Sometimes the pass rush wasn't there.

"It's different breakdowns. We're going to put a heavy emphasis on it this week, and we'll get it right. I'll put more reps on it in this week's practices just because one week it happens, but two weeks in a row, you have to throw some extra reps and time into it, and we will."

Tanner Hawkinson, a fifth-round draft pick in 2013, was cut by the Bengals just before the season started. He latched onto the 49ers' practice squad and was just starting to feel situated when his agent called him on Monday.

"I was sitting at lunch with my wife, and my agent told me (the Eagles) were probably going to pick me up," Hawkinson said after his first practice at NovaCare. Practice-squad players aren't on the 53-man roster, and have the option of leaving for teams that want them on it. "I'm excited to be here."

Releasing Julian Vandervelde yet again and bringing in Hawkinson seems to reflect confidence in Josh Andrews as Jason Kelce's backup. Vandervelde (generously listed at 6-2, 300) was a center who could fill in at guard. Hawkinson, 6-5, 300, is a tackle who can play guard. Eagles tackles Jason Peters (quad) and Lane Johnson (knee and ankle) are playing with injuries.

"That's what makes this league so fun," Hawkinson said. "You can have any type opportunity come your way, and you've just got to take advantage of it."

Hawkinson said he practiced at guard yesterday.

Inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks (hamstring) did not practice yesterday and defensive coordinator Bill Davis said he didn't know Kendricks' status for Monday's game . . . Also not practicing were wide receiver Nelson Agholor (ankle), defensive lineman Brandon Bair (groin) and inside linebacker Kiko Alonso (knee) . . . Marcus Smith, who played a career-high 22 snaps against the Saints, said he would give his performance a "B-minus . . . I think I did an all-right job. I think I hit the quarterback a couple of times."

Ed Barkowitz and Paul Domowitch contributed to this report.

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