Good point. These air intakes pull in all kinds of junk.
After taking my mkx to dealer for works couple years ago, got it back with severe dismissed hvac air flow. Went in through cabin filter opening and found it was full of torn-up foam pieces.
After cleaning it out thought I'd see if I could find where it came from (of course that idiot service rep that did it. Calked the service mgr and told him I found his little gift, didn't appreciate it. Was there couple weeks later and idiot was gone.)
Antway, had a hell of a time finding the inlet. On yours it's grilled, pointing up. On mine, it's covered with a heavy filter material and opens down in the engine compartment.
Still, good advice.