Cox’s absence kick in the face to coach

PHILADELPHIA » It was obvious from the way coach Doug Pederson said “no worries” that there are worries about veterans not showing up for the Eagles’ Organized Team Activities (OTAs) this week. It was borderline embarrassing Tuesday when Pederson had to reveal how Fletcher Cox, Jason Peters and Donnie Jones clicked the “no” box on their invitations to camp.

No one expects the Eagles to go to the Super Bowl this season but the playoffs certainly are within range, considering the offseason additions. If the absentees didn’t get the blast text messages, news of the active and entertaining offseason has been all over Twitter and Instagram.

Pederson, standup guy that he is, said he communicated with all of the above guys, and that they had personal reasons to be somewhere else.

Cox’s absence was especially disappointing, and for good reason. He isn’t staying away due to a family or personal emergency. Pederson would have mentioned that, had it been the case.

Cox is being counted on to lead and teach the younger defensive tackles like Tim Jernigan, Destiny Vaeao and rookie Elijah Qualls.

Though it seems like a long time ago, Pederson had Cox’s back throughout the player’s contentious 2016 offseason when he shunned all of the voluntary team-building practices to negotiate a record $103 million contract for a defensive tackle.

Cox owes Pederson, who stubbornly stood by his man in repeated media availability sessions.

Cox also owes owner Jeffrey Lurie, who approves the checks.

And how did Cox repay them? He’s supposedly spending time with family this week. Cox quietly told the Eagles he’ll be back next week and, almost forgot, Happy Memorial Day.

“It’s a voluntary program,” Pederson said. “I would love for everybody to be here. That’s just me, personally. I know it’s not always going to work out that way. But, you know, Fletcher’s one of the leaders on the football team. Guys like that you do expect to be here. I get the (NFL) rules. We abide by the rules. He’s one of the guys, too, that at the end of the day, I’m going to hang my hat on and go to war with.”

Technically, OTAs are voluntary. They’re football’s equivalent of offseason homework. If you love what you do, you do OTAs.

Actions speak louder than words, and Cox’s decision shows he doesn’t see the benefit of arranging his schedule to accommodate his teammates.

If the Eagles made sweeping last-minute changes to the offseason schedule, it would be understandable. A lot of players would have obligations they couldn’t break. That’s not the deal in this case.

Choosing family over work isn’t the issue here, either. Choosing family you can visit individually outside of OTAs, over family that is your purpose, your identity, your reason to be, sends a selfish message. It’s a choice. You don’t have to be a professional football player to realize it. Cox has chosen himself.

Eagles players redirected questions about the no-show back toward Cox, the highest-paid player on the team. They say only Cox knows why he made the decision and he is answerable for it.

“Obviously we’re focused on getting better, especially with the guys here,” veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins said. “They’ll get more reps than some of the other guys. But I don’t think Fletcher will take a step backwards by missing OTAs or anything like that.”

In a business where you get better or worse, Fletcher Cox won’t get better this week. Neither will the teammates he would have practiced with or against. That’s a big deal in a business where the average career is less than four years.

Peters’ absence isn’t as much of an issue. It’s nothing new for him.

While the Eagles don’t yet feel comfortable without him on the blindside protecting the major investment they have in quarterback Carson Wentz, they might at some point. Lane Johnson moved from right to left tackle at practice Tuesday, enabling Hal Vaitai to play right tackle. Don’t be surprised if the Eagles like what they see of those tackles or of Johnson and Isaac Seumalo on the edges, so much so that the Birds may move on from Peters and open up more than $10 million of cap space this year.

Jones, the punter, is 36-years-old and due only $1 million this season and $1.75 million in each of the next two years. The Eagles have rookie punter Cameron Johnston (Ohio State), just in case.

Cox is the defensive face of the Eagles. He’s coming off his second straight All-Pro season. After he signed his big contract he thanked Lurie, Howie Roseman, Pederson and team president Don Smolenski.

Cox vowed to “continue to humble myself, just keep working every day in practice, man.

“I want to be the leader that this team is expecting me to be,” Cox said. “To show up every day and to work. I’m willing to do anything to help this organization win football games week in and week out.”

Anything but all of the OTAs, that is.

Not exactly the leadership this young Eagles team needs.

To contact Bob Grotz email bgrotz@21stcenturymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @ BobGrotz.