Eagles’ Cox set for 1st taste of any Super Bowl
Fletcher Cox (right) celebrates with Derek Barnett during a game earlier this season. The Eagles and the New England Patriots are set to meet in the Super Bowl on Feb. 4.
PHILADELPHIA — Fletcher Cox is playing in the first Super Bowl he’s seeing. Or so he says.
The three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle is a big reason why the Philadelphia Eagles are facing the New England Patriots next Sunday in Minneapolis for a chance to bring home the franchise’s first Vince Lombardi Trophy.
But the 27-year-old Cox isn’t much of a football fan. He insists he’s never even watched a Super Bowl.
“I don’t watch sports,” Cox said. “You know that.”
If he spends the night getting in Tom Brady’s face and helps the Eagles win their first NFL title since 1960, Cox may want to watch the highlights sometime. First, all that matters is winning. “We haven’t been talked about all year,” Cox said. “That’s our story. No one has been talking about the Eagles, the defense, or the offense. If you go back and look, we finished in the top five of a bunch of different categories. This team just keeps finding ways to win, and that’s our motto.”
Cox, the 12th overall pick in the 2012 draft, had 5½ sacks in 14 games, recovered two fumbles and returned one for a touchdown. He often faces two or three blockers, so that allows his teammates opportunities to make plays.
“Cox is as good as anybody in the league at his position,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “He’s a very disruptive player, hard to block, Alex Brandon / AP run, pass, no matter what it is.”
Earning praise from Belichick doesn’t come easy. Cox appreciates it.
“It’s a lot of respect from a coach like Belichick, a guy that’s been around, a guy that’s seen a lot of great players in this league,” he said. “For him to say that that means I obviously must be doing something right. But at the same time, I’ve got three other guys besides me that’s helping me push that limit, that’s helping me get that recognition and I want to do the same thing for those guys.”
The Eagles have plenty of depth on their defensive line. Ends Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry and tackle Tim Jernigan start along with Cox. Chris Long, Derek Barnett and Beau Allen also played at least 40 percent of the snaps.
“I wish it was just four (linemen),” Belichick said. “It’s a very disruptive group. They have some edge rushers, a good interior pass rush. They come hard every play. You have to block them on every play. There are no plays off. To deal with that front down after down, they wear you down. It’s a great group and a huge strength for their defense.”
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has enough confidence in all the players to rotate them in and out for series at a time. Because they split reps, they still look fresh this late in the season. It showed in a pair of dominant performances against the Falcons and Vikings in the playoffs.
“To roll in that many guys and not see a drop-off, it’s great,” Cox said. “We’re pushing those guys to be on the same level as us.”
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Two of the New England Patriots’ most important players are getting healthier as they prepare to head to Minneapolis for Super Bowl week.
After getting stitches in his right hand and thumb prior to the AFC championship game last week, quarterback Tom Brady was on the practice field Saturday, gripping the ball without a glove on his throwing hand. Tight end Rob Gronkowski also was at practice, returning to workouts after starting the week in the NFL’s concussion protocol.
Both are positive signs for New England, which has just one practice remaining in Foxborough before the team heads to Minnesota to resume its Super Bowl preparations.
Defensive lineman Deatrich Wise, who also missed practice time this week with a concussion, joined Gronk in the team stretching period that is open to reporters.
Gronkowski hadn’t been on the practice field since his secondquarter exit from the AFC title game following a helmet-to-helmet hit from Jaguars safety Barry Church.
“It’s always great to have him out there. He’s a great player, a great person, a great teammate and a big part of what we do,” Brady said of Gronkowski. “It obviously hurts when he’s not out there for a lot of reasons. But he’s doing the best he can do and we’re all hopeful.”
While Gronkowski and Wise were on the field, it’s unclear whether they have been officially cleared from the protocol. The team isn’t required to file its next injury report until Wednesday.
Gronk played just eight games last season and missed the Patriots’ entire playoff run after undergoing season-ending back surgery.
Since the start of last season, New England is 12-1 without Gronk. But last season it had Martellus Bennett to fill in the gap without him. Bennett signed with Green Bay in the offseason, before being released by the Packers in November.
He then re-signed with the Patriots, but only appeared in two games before being placed on season-ending injured reserve.
Brady said he wants to spend the rest of the time leading up to the Super Bowl avoiding all possible distractions.
That includes not talking about a new series that debuted on Facebook recently and provides viewers a rare glimpse at his life off the field.
“What? Let’s talk about distractions,” Brady joked when he was asked about the series Saturday. “We’ll stick to football this week, too. I like that no distractions part.”