Cox scores points with huge effort for Eagles

JUST WAIT until next time.

Fletcher Cox promised that, when he next scores a touchdown off a turnover, fans will witness 300 pounds of acrobatic, gyrating, choreographed joy.

"It's like, once in a lifetime for a d-lineman to get a fumble and have the open field and the end zone is right there," Cox said.

Cox didn't dare celebrate too much after his 17-yard touchdown romp iced Sunday's season-opening win against Jacksonville.

For one thing, he feared that a celebration would further tire him, and he expected to have to return to action immediately.

"Well, I wanted to do something, but I thought I'd have to go right back," Cox said. "My thing was, get to the sideline, get water and get back into the game."

For another, with only 90 seconds to play, Cox knew he should have just fallen on the ball.

"The right thing to do was get down, let the offense get on the field and run the clock out," Cox said.

But sometimes instincts take over. And sometimes, after a day of labor without much recognition (except the kind that arrives days later in a punitive FedEx envelope from the league's sheriff), a player gets a gift.

A reward. A karmic dividend.

The touchdown was Cox' gift for four quarters of sublime effort and two seasons of numbing trials.

Cox made a lot of plays Sunday. Most were muffled by the traffic that swarms around a defensive end in a three-lineman, four-linebacker alignment. Mainly, ends such as Cox occupy space and blockers. The linebackers get the glory.

Really, the play Cox made that everyone will remember didn't really matter. After all, it was Trent Cole who sacked and stripped Jags quarterback Chad Henne.

Cox had made plenty of others that mattered a whole lot more. He finished with six solo tackles, his second-best total since the team switched from a 4-3 scheme to a 3-4 alignment last season. He helped push the pocket into Henne's face all day.

It was the sort of effort that justifies his pedigree.

The Eagles took him in the first round of the 2012 draft, but he seldom has played to the value of the pick. To be fair, this might be the first time Cox is in a position to prove his value.

Cox endured that train wreck of Andy Reid's last year, when Cox played as a wide-nine defensive end for a 4-3 defense. That defense was run by former offensive-line coach Juan Castillo. Cox was coached by divisive line coach Jim Washburn.

Both coaches were fired before the season ended.

As a rookie, Cox also suffered through the loss of his best friend, Melvin Baker, who died in a car accident in his home state of Mississippi shortly after Cox was drafted.

He played through grief and he played through change, and he entered this season with only 8 1/2 sacks in 32 games, perhaps one or two of which were memorable. Cox needed to show Eagles coaches who did not draft him that he can handle the thankless task of playing end in a 3-4 scheme.

He got a great start Sunday.

The Birds got beat on a couple of bombs early, but once the defensive backfield righted itself, the defense pitched a shutout.

Cox was in the middle of everything.

He was incorrectly flagged for a horse-collar tackle in the first quarter. Without the call, Jacksonville would have faced third-and-6 from nearly midfield. Instead, the penalty essentially gave the Jags a field goal.

Just after the 9-minute mark of the second quarter, the Jags ran at Cox, who stopped Toby Gerhart after a 3-yard gain.

On the first defensive play of the second half, Cox rode his blocker down the line of scrimmage and smothered Gerhart again. He won his position the next two plays, and the Jaguars punted.

On the next drive, Cox sniffed out a screen on second-and-10 and the pass fell incomplete, and the Jags wound up punting again.

A few minutes later, Cox flushed Henne and forced a throwaway. Two plays later, Cox clobbered Henne as Henne released the ball, and Cox' helmet snapped Henne's head back - the sort of hit that likely will hit Cox in the wallet. It's also the sort of play that makes a quarterback jumpy. Henne was ineffective the rest of the game.

It's not that Brandon Graham, or anyone on the Eagles' side, dominated the Jags in any real sense. He just played soundly and stoutly and with continual effort. He adhered to defensive principles.

He executed his assignments.

"My main thing was to stay focused, stay on task," Cox said. "I didn't try to be Superman."

He made a difference, and that is what first-round picks are supposed to do. He did his job, and he got a gift. If the opportunity ever arises again, Cox will unleash his celebration.

"You'll see," Cox promised as he left the locker room, the touchdown ball tucked under his right elbow. "You know I've got something."