Cardinals edge rusher Josh Sweat was the only NFC player with double-digit sacks not to receive an invitation to the Pro Bowl. This didn’t sit well with the eight-year veteran.
“I’m upset because there’s only two individual things you can get, and that’s Pro Bowl and All-Pro,” Sweat said Wednesday, via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN. “And one was taken away from me. I say bluntly this was taken from me — and it’s not the first time.”
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Sweat tied his single-season high with 11 sacks, which he also had in 2022 with the Eagles, and he has four forced fumbles. He signed with the Cardinals in free agency this offseason, reuniting with Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis after two seasons with them in Philadelphia, and had his best season despite the Cardinals’ lack of success.
“It’s like I don’t know what else I could have done at that point,” Sweat said. “I don’t know what else I could have done. In previous years, you might have said he didn’t have the popularity, maybe he didn’t get the fan vote. This year, I was second in the fan vote (at outside linebacker) for (the) NFC. It’s like, what else did they want me to do? The popularity was there. You could say the team was losing. That didn’t matter; I had popularity.
Giants linebacker Brian Burns and Rams linebackers Byron Young and Jared Verse were Pro Bowlers selected at the position.
Sweat called it “frustrating” not to be recognized for his play this season.
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“The fans said, ‘He should be the guy; we want him.’ My play showed that I should be there,” Sweat said. “But somewhere, some popularity around the league said he shouldn’t be there. I just want to know if I’m crazy. The only double-digit guy in the NFC not to make it. All they do is wave a player card in your face, like, ‘Go vote. Look at the sacks and forced fumbles.’ But you’re on a hotter team or your team is losing or whatever; I’m not really trying to hear any of that. I I just want what I’ve earned and what I’ve worked for.”
Sweat was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2021, but was called up when 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa was injured.
