PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Eagles No. 1 cornerback Darius “Big Play” Slay has a reason why he and Fletcher Cox haven’t been making big plays recently.
“As you look at it, me and him [are] in the same position,” Slay said on WIP Sportsradio Monday night. “He’s a guy that gets a lot of attention. So, guys be like, ‘Hey, why not Fletch making plays?’ Because a lot of times, Fletch is fighting off double teams.
“Guy like me, you know, ‘Why is Slay ain’t making a lot of play?’ I only getting … one or two targets a game.”
In four games this season, Cox — who is in the fifth year of a massive six-year contract extension reportedly worth $103 million — only has five total tackles and no sacks, while the Eagles defensive line is getting gashed in the run game. Defenders of Cox will agree with Slay and allude to the extra attention he’s getting from opposing offensive lines — which has resulted in fellow defensive tackle Javon Hargrave racking up five sacks so far.
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“[Hargrave] probably been playing the best football on the defense for sure overall because he just been a force,” Slay said.
“I know the stats aren’t there, but I know [Cox is] changing the game. He’s doing things to help us even though the stats aren’t there,” noted head coach Nick Sirianni. “But like I said, we gotta make sure we’re allowing him to eat as well.”
As far as Slay — who’s in his second season with the Eagles after seven in Detroit — he hasn’t been matching his nickname in the eyes of some. In 19 games with the Eagles between this season and last, he only has one interception and seven pass deflections.
The argument can be made that Slay is covering opposing receivers so well that they’re not being thrown to, but the Dallas Cowboys scored 34 points on the Eagles defense in Week 3, while the Kansas City Chiefs followed that up with 41 in Week 4.
Meanwhile, Chiefs wide receiver Tyreke Hill had 11 catches for 186 yards and three touchdowns against the Eagles in that game. Last season, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf had 10 catches for 177 yards against the Eagles.
Slay received some criticism after the loss to Kansas City, so he fired back on social media.
Longtime WIP host Glen Macnow tweeted, “Darius Slay is the Byron Maxwell of Nnamdi Asomguhas,” referencing two former Eagles cornerbacks who signed in free agency but didn’t work out.
In 2020, the Eagles traded for Slay, then reportedly signed him to a three-year extension.
According to Macnow, Slay blocked him on Twitter.
Fellow WIP host Tom Kelly noted how Slay’s teams — the 2020 Eagles and most of his Detroit Lions teams from 2013 through 2019 — didn’t have much success. In fact, only two of the Lions team Slay was on made it to the playoffs, and both lost in the wild card round.
Slay was a three-time Pro Bowler before joining the Eagles, and that included being First-Team All-Pro in 2017 when he had eight interceptions and 26 pass deflections.
In the end, the fans care most about wins, so if the Eagles are winning, there will be less attention on who isn’t doing what.
The question is: To win, do the Eagles need Cox and Slay to start filling up the stat sheet more?