TEMPE, Ariz. — Cardinals edge rusher Josh Sweat did not hold back his disappointment Wednesday in being named a Pro Bowl alternate this week.
The eight-year veteran said he was unjustly snubbed from one of the two ways for a player to be individually recognized despite being the only NFC player with double-digit sacks to not get a Pro Bowl invite.
“I’m upset because there’s only two individual things that you can get and it’s Pro Bowl and All-Pro,” Sweat said. “And I got one taken away from me. I’m just flat out saying it was taken away from me — and it ain’t the first time.”
Sweat already has matched his career high of 11.0 sacks, and his 4.0 forced fumbles this season not only lead the NFL but are a career high, as well. He also is playing in a scheme under Arizona coach Jonathan Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis — both of whom coached Sweat in 2021 and 2022 with the Philadelphia Eagles — that allows him to move from side to side and play free; whereas in Philadelphia, Sweat said, he was limited to one side.
“It’s like I don’t know what else I could have done at that point,” said Sweat, who is in his first season with the Cardinals. “I don’t know what else I could have done. Now previous years, maybe you could have said he didn’t have the popularity, maybe he didn’t get the fan vote. This year, I was second in fan voting for NFC. It’s like, what else did they want me to do? The popularity was there. You could say losing team. It didn’t matter; I had the popularity.”
Sweat was the second-leading vote-getter in the NFC among outside linebackers and fourth overall. Besides New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns — who was second in outside linebacker votes received and is second overall in sacks — the other two NFC outside linebackers who made the Pro Bowl were two Los Angeles Rams: Byron Young and Jared Verse. Young was eighth overall and fourth in the NFC in voting, and he has the same number of sacks as Sweat. Verse was 10th overall and fifth in the NFC in voting while having 6.5 sacks.
“The fans said, ‘He should be the guy; we want him in.’ My play showed that I should be in,” Sweat said. “But somewhere, some popularity within the league said that he shouldn’t be in. I just want to know if I’m crazy. The only double-digit NFC guy to not 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 on a hotter team or your team losing or whatever; I ain’t really trying to hear none of that. I just want what I earned and what I worked for.”
Sweat said the Pro Bowl is waved in players’ faces more than All-Pro, which makes the Pro Bowl a “big deal.” He said not making the Pro Bowl is “frustrating” and that he wants to play football and get recognized for his work.
He added that the snub makes him feel like his “efforts were wasted” — even though, he said, they weren’t because he still wants to play football.
“It does still signify that you’re one of the top guys in the league, regardless of how you made it,” Sweat said. “You were one of those pictures up there initially that got to be seen, and I get nothing. So, that’s why it’s important. That’s why it’s important.”
Sweat, who also was named a Pro Bowl alternate in 2021 but was called up when Nick Bosa was hurt, said he feels bad for the fans who voted for him.
“Previous years, I was first alternate pretty much every single time and I didn’t have the fan vote,” Sweat said. “This year, I got the fan vote and you’re going to tell me all of a sudden the players and coaches don’t respect me anymore? Man, hell nah. Man, stop playing with me. But I mean, before I get fined and all that other s—, I got to chill out. But it was taken. It was.”