Bennie Logan, Fletcher Cox Blossoming Into Stars
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Fletcher Cox and Bennie Logan are blossoming into superstars together.
Cox, 24, is in his fourth NFL season as a Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman. A second-time All-Pro last year and the reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Week after his three sack-two forced fumble performance against the Saints, Cox is a little more popular than Logan.
However, after being snubbed from the Pro Bowl last season, Cox stills feels slightly overlooked.
"Of course anybody would, but I really only can control the things I can control and that's me going out and dominating on game day and sooner or later people will start to recognize," Cox told Angelo Cataldi and the 94WIP Morning Show on Thursday.
Listen: Fletcher Cox on the 94WIP Morning Show
Logan, 25, is in his third NFL season as an Eagles defensive lineman. He has quickly turned into one of the NFL's top run-stoppers right before our eyes and Eagles fans are falling into sports love with Logan.
"I didn't know that," Logan told the 94WIP Josh Innes Show during his weekly 5:00pm Wednesday call-in. "I appreciate that because I love Philadelphia a lot."
Listen: Bennie Logan on the 94WIP Josh Innes Show
It's safe to say Cox and Logan enjoy playing with one another.
"I think Bennie is the most underrated player on this team," Cox said. "Bennie is a great player, he shows it at practice everyday. Ced [Cedric Thorton] works his butt off. It's just everybody up front, it's not just us two. Everybody got to work together and I think Bennie is doing a great job and he's standing out."
"Fletcher Cox is way good," Logan said. "I don't understand why we just now talkin' about this guy. This guy has been dominating for the past two years I've been here. I really don't know why he doesn't get the recognition that he doesn't, but I think Sunday really just put a big spotlight. I told him, 'Now you showed me what you could do when you play your A game, so now you just gotta do it every game. So if you don't do it every game, you just choose not to do.'"
Cox, Logan, and Cedric Thorton have formed one of the top defensive lines in the league. The Eagles are 10th in the NFL allowing just 96.8 yards per game on the ground and they're one of three teams who have allowed just one rushing touchdown this season.
Furthermore, the Eagles are second in the NFL with 13 takeaways and tied for 12th with 11 sacks.
"Walter Thurmond was the guy that actually came in and actually taught us the proper way of striping the ball," Logan explained. "So we do a lot of different kind of turnover drills and once we get to the ball carrier try to strip it, if you can't strip it just make the tackle."
Logan has honed his craft as a run stopper, but on Sunday, he recorded his third career sack and first of the 2015 season.
"Yeah, it was cool," Logan said. "It wasn't nothing. It was a sack. I was just happy we got the win."
That's it? No big deal?
"It feels good, but at the same it's something that I really don't put a lot into it," he admitted. "When sacks come they come, but if they don't they don't. I just try my best to stop the run. If we don't stop the run we'll never be able to rush the quarterback. So I just do what I do."
If Logan sounds like a humble, down-to-earth guy, that's because he is. Born in Coushatta, LA, Logan is just a country boy who likes to keep it real.
"I was never into pretending and that fake stuff," Logan said. "We was always raised just to be humble to be real about things. All that pretending? Nah, that never works for me. I'm just a person that keeps it real."
So let's keep it real---amazingly, Logan's first love is not football.
"My cousin was a police officer and just growing up watching him drive the police car and just help people out, that's something I wanted to do.
"My dreams growing up was always to be a firefighter, a police officer," he explained. "To the day, I still want to go into law enforcement once my career is done in football. I want to be a U.S. Marshall or FBI agent because that was my first love and that's something I want to pursue afterwards."
