What was it like for Fletcher Cox to watch the Rams game from home?

As his teammates defeated the Rams 23-14 at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, Fletcher Cox had an unusual vantage point.

From his couch.

For the first time in over four seasons, Cox missed a game on Sunday because of injury.

“I haven’t had to do it much, man,” Cox said. “I watched it at the house, sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time. The guys took care of business. I was happy for them.”

And the guys didn’t forget about him either.

Cox is the leader of a really young and talented group of defensive tackles. This was the first NFL game for most of them — Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Milton Williams — without Cox. But they made sure to keep him in the loop anyway. 

A bunch of guys texted Cox before the game. Davis FaceTimed him when he got to the stadium. And an excited Carter texted Cox after his first two-sack game in the NFL.

It wouldn’t have made sense for Cox to take a cross-country flight with an ailing back for a game he wasn’t going to play in. So he watched it at home. But his teammates made sure his presence was felt in the locker room.

“It’s special,” Cox said. “I missed those guys for the one week. Hopefully, I can get back out there on Sunday.”

Cox, 32, had an epidural in his back last week and the initial plan was for him to miss just one week. Cox said there was no way he was going to be able to play against the Rams, which might have made it a bit easier. Because Cox has played through a ton of injuries before and normally if it’s close, he’s going to play.

“It’s hard telling me no,” Cox said, “because I’m one of them players, I don’t like missing games.”

That brings us to this week. Cox began the practice week as a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice and while he wasn’t ready to commit to playing against the Jets on Sunday, he was upgraded to a full participant on Thursday. He’s clearly trending the right way. And that’s especially good news after Carter popped up on the report Thursday with an ankle injury.

Before Cox missed last week, he was playing an awful lot of snaps — 184/263 to be exact. That’s just a tad under 70%, which is a higher percentage than he played last season and he’s 32 now.

So even before this back injury, it was fair to question whether or not Cox’s workload was a little too large, especially with the expectation that this is going to be a pretty long season for the undefeated Eagles.

“Yeah, I think a couple weeks ago I was up pretty high,” Cox said. “Obviously, going into overtime will kind of take you there. But it depends on how the game is going. The coaches do a great job of getting me in and out of the game and getting me in the game if it’s clutch time. And sometimes, I’m stubborn. I don’t want to come off the field but I have to. Especially coming off this back deal if I do play. Again, that’s up to the coaches. I’m looking forward to it.”

Cox is in Year 12 and he had a resurgent season in 2022. In the first four games of the 2023 season, he looked like he was keeping that momentum. It’s unfair to expect Cox to be the 2018 All-Pro version of himself, but he’s still a very effective player.

One of his big roles at this stage in his career is mentoring the young players in the defensive line room. So he’ll teach them plenty about defense and technique but one of the biggest lessons is about taking care of their bodies. Cox has played 177 games in his career, averaging 15.7 games per season in his career. He’s also played over 8,700 defensive snaps at a position that gets into a collision on every single play.

As great as Cox has been in his career, he’s been just as durable.

That alone is something for his young teammates to admire.

“I just try to take care of my body,” Cox said. “I just try to take care of myself and be smart. I take a lot of pride in it and I try to hand that stuff down too. Jordan, Jalen, Milton, Marlon, all of those guys. I try to hand down what I do to take care of myself. Believe it or not, I get that same question from them: How do I stay healthy? How do I practice the way I practice? And that’s where it starts. I try to tell them that and it carries into the game.”

Subscribe to Eagle Eye anywhere you get your podcasts: 
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube