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Marc Narducci
Posted on Wed, Sep. 20, 2006
The Eagles soon will find out if Jevon Kearse is irreplaceable.
The defensive end, who suffered a season-ending left knee injury in Sunday's 30-24 overtime loss to the New York Giants, was placed on the injured-reserve list yesterday.
To fill Kearse's roster spot, the Eagles promoted cornerback Dustin Fox from the practice squad.
The addition of a cornerback to replace Kearse was expected, because the Eagles are deep along the defensive line. There had been speculation that they would sign cornerback Donald Strickland, who played three games with them last season and was released on the final cut this year.
Instead, the Eagles promoted Fox, who was a third-round draft choice of the Minnesota Vikings in 2005 but spent the year on injured reserve with a broken arm.
After the Vikings released him at the end of the preseason, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Fox was signed to the Eagles' practice squad on Sept. 4.
"I think I can contribute some immediate depth," Fox said in a statement released by the Eagles. "Obviously, we are kind of hurting at corner right now. Guys have been getting nicked up a little bit. So that's the main goal."
According to Fox's agent, Neil Cornrich, there was serious interest in Fox after the Vikings released him.
"Almost half the teams in the league inquired about him," Cornrich said yesterday in a phone interview.
Cornrich said that Fox picked the Eagles after receiving a persuasive pitch from Howie Roseman, the vice president of football administration.
"Howie articulated to us very well why he felt the Eagles were the right situation for Dustin," Cornrich said.
Fox, who had 217 career tackles and seven interceptions at Ohio State, has good bloodlines. His uncle, Tim Fox, was a star defensive back at Ohio State and a former first-round draft choice of the New England Patriots who played 11 NFL seasons. His brother Derek played football for Penn State and for the Indianapolis Colts.
