Once upon a time, they placed missing persons on the back of milk cartons. We don't say that to sound insensitive. We're just trying to paint a picture here. Three Philadelphia Eagles games on the regular-season slate are in the rearview mirror. Several guys have seemingly gone AWOL.
Josh Sweat is one of those guys. We don't know if missing persons are still placed on milk cartons, but if so, many Eagles fans might put him on one. Here's the good news. Sweat isn't doing as poor a job as some of you think, and there may be some hope that he can produce a few fireworks that light up the defensive stat sheet.
What's happened to Josh Sweat? That's one of life's mysteries. Is it as simple as seeing two great teammates move on?
Javon Hargrave left in free agency following the 2022 Eagles campaign. Fletcher Cox retired during the most recent offseason.
We've never been asked to test this next statement, but we'd imagine having those guys command so much attention on the inside would lead to some one-on-one scenarios outside. That would certainly lead to some sacks for our guy 'Sweaty'.
Still, it's been a while since Josh Sweat has registered a quarterback takedown. If you include Philly's loss during the Wildcard Round of the NFL Playoffs last season, he's only taken the opposing QB down once during his last dozen games.
Remove the postseason affair, and Sweat hasn't registered a sack since the midpoint of last season. You remember that one. He got to Dak Prescott during the final moments of Week 9's game versus the Dallas Cowboys.
Since then, he hasn't done much... or has he? Thank CBS Sports' Jeff Kerr for the numbers.
Sweat barely averages over two tackles per game, but four of his seven stops were of the solo variety. Pro Football Reference also credits him with one tackle resulting in a loss of yardage and three hits on opposing quarterbacks.
His 74.9 pass-rushing grade and his 67.0 overall mark on Pro Football Focus tell another tale. They also credit him with seven tackles, but they count 15 total pressures on 72 pass-rushing snaps (ten hurries and five hits on the quarterback). He could contribute more to the Eagles' rushing defense though (then again, so could everyone else). Sweat has produced a 53.1 run defense grade on 40 run defense snaps according to PFF.
