The mainstay is still there, same as always, same team and same place, in the front and in the middle of the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense. For 187 games and 181 starts at defensive tackle (with a cameo, for three seasons, at defensive end), Fletcher Cox has added consistency to a franchise with no shortage of turnover. As a member of multiple outfits’ All-Decade teams for the 2010s, he helped make Philadelphia’s defense fierce. He won a Super Bowl (LII) and reached another (LVII) and still came back, each and every season, including for this one, his 12th.
Rare is the D-tackle who plays this many seasons, grinding through roster churns and rebuilding years and punishment baked into the job description, great force pointed his way on every snap. Rarer still is the defensive tackle who does all that in the same place. But even after season No. 11, Cox wanted more—more snaps, more impact and, of course, at least one more Lombardi Trophy to hoist over his head.
Cox wasn’t the reason Philly lost last season’s Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs. His seven sacks, 14 quarterback hits and seven tackles for a loss ensured the Eagles’ return to the grandest stage in sports. He hardly flirted with retiring, signing a one-year deal this past spring.
Everyone invested in the Eagles’ success understands that peak Cox probably ended after 2020. He’s no longer the immovable force who stalked into stadiums, earning six Pro Bowl nods and four All Pro selections. He’s missed one game (Los Angeles Rams, Week 5) due to a back issue and part of another (Buffalo Bills, Week 12) with a hamstring injury. He reportedly received an epidural shot to numb the back pain, in an attempt to clash with Los Angeles, and he returned against Buffalo, despite the injury, before it flared up and forced him from the field for good that afternoon. Because Cox had last missed a game due for injury in ’17, naturally, the whispers started to pick up in recent weeks. Too old. Too brittle.
That’s not how Philadelphia views its mainstay, though. Cox has missed all of five regular-season games, ever, and two of those came when coaches rested high-value starters in meaningless season finales. He’s only 32, older for a defensive tackle but not by any stretch. His snaps-played percentage has hovered around 70 all season, and, if not for the injury absences, would have marked his highest tally since 2019. His presence allows coaches to be extra creative, because he’s versatile and can slide into multiple slots on the defensive line. That’s how Philly recorded 70 sacks last season, a franchise record, and how, despite more middling statistics this year, the team still occupies the NFC’s No. 2 seed. Cox helps coaches. Cox helps elite rookies such as Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. Cox helps everybody, even viewers astounded by the things a man his size (6'4", north of 300 pounds) can do.
Proof was delivered, once more, against Kansas City in Week 11. The Eagles trailed 14–7 late in the second quarter. The Chiefs sped to the line to try to catch the defense off-guard or, failing that, snap the ball to stop the clock. Cox happened to still be in their backfield, but not for long! Instead, he went full ballerina, leaping toward the offensive line and jumping between/nearly over the space between the leaned-down right tackle and leaned-down right guard. His leap all but screamed what should by now be obvious: .
That, when combined with consistency, durability and work ethic, is how he became their mainstay in the first place.
