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Fox looking to step in and play secondary role
By DANA PENNETT O'NEIL
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As a high schooler in Canton, Ohio, Dustin Fox loved playing running back.
He wasn't bad, either, racking up 2,500 yards and 38 touchdowns for GlenOak High.
He had no shot at keeping the position.
Two of Fox' uncles, Kenny Kuhn and Mark Stier, were Ohio State linebackers; another, Tim Fox, played defensive back for the Buckeyes and 11 years in the NFL. Dustin was a cornerback at Ohio State. Only big brother Derek shucked family convention. He played safety... at Penn State.
Carrying the football, you see, simply isn't done on either side of the Fox family tree.
This week, as Fox tries to become the second family member to actually play in an NFL game (Derek spent two seasons on the Colts' practice squad), all of that defensive lineage might just come in handy.
"It helps me to have those people to call on," Fox said yesterday. "I can call them and ask for advice and they gladly give it over."
Brought up from the Eagles' practice squad to fill Jevon Kearse's roster spot, Fox is the latest Band-Aid to a depleted secondary. With Lito Sheppard still nursing a nasty ankle sprain and Rod Hood listed as doubtful with a heel contusion, the Eagles are turning to Fox, Joselio Hanson (recently removed from his appearance in the World Bowl) and Dexter Wynn (added last week when Sheppard went down) to stem the tide Sunday against San Francisco.
Most folks might eye the 49ers as the perfect antidote to cure the ills left over from the Giants game, but San Francisco is a team with big-play capability in the form of Antonio Bryant. Through two games, the wide receiver is averaging 30.6 yards per catch, with a touchdown.
The 49ers also aren't stupid.
Asked if he expected San Francisco to pick on the secondary, Brian Dawkins didn't hesitate.
"You can answer that yourself," he said. "If you're an offensive coordinator and you see some injuries, you probably are going to try and test it out."
Certainly that's what the Giants did last week, picking apart the Eagles in the fourth quarter and overtime to the tune of 233 yards and two touchdowns in the air. Some of that certainly was situational - in a hole, the Giants had to pass - but New York also was being opportunistic.
Unlike the rest of the city, still mired in the nightmare that was the second half, the theme in Eagledom this week is forgetting about the Giants. Nowhere is that more important than in the secondary.
"I think in the secondary if you think bad things are going to happen to you, they are," said Wynn, who played nickel last week and likely will do the same this week. "You have to think positive; don't think all the burden is on you. Just take care of your responsibilities and trust the other 10 guys around you."
No one is trying to pretend this is anything close to ideal. Already skating a thin line in the secondary after choosing to keep 10 defensive linemen, spinning a revolving door definitely doesn't make things easier.
"Continuity is something that is built over time," Dawkins said. "The thing as a safety, when you're dealing with a corner that you've played with for a long period of time, you understand how they play things and what their weaknesses are. With new guys rotating in, you're not as sure how they're going to play things, so there's a communication put in place."
Daunting as it might all seem, the replacements prefer to look at this week more as an opportunity than a challenge. Hanson got his lone NFL taste 2 years ago with the 49ers, playing 13 games.
"I'm not wide-eyed out there," he said. "I love playing football, so I'm not thinking about anything out there but having fun, playing the game."
As for Fox, after helping Ohio State to a 2002 national championship, he was selected by Minnesota in the third round in 2005. Moved to safety during training camp, he broke his arm during practice and a bit to his surprise, was placed on the injured reserve in August (he thought he could have rehabbed and played).
Fox returned to training camp this year healthy, but then the Vikings changed coaches and Fox, not one of Brad Childress' draft picks and an unproven player, was released earlier this month.
Placed on the practice squad by the Eagles, he has spent the last few weeks trying to learn the nuances of Jim Johnson's defense. He's put in extra time with secondary coach Trent Walters, trying to pick up what he terms a more complicated defense than what the Vikings run.
"It was a tough situation in Minnesota," Fox said. "It was a rough deal. Coming here, I felt like I had a new start. You definitely have to have an opportunity to play to make it in this league. This is an opportunity, so I'm going to make the most of it."
