Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, who recently signed a six-year, $103 million contract, worked as a counselor at the New Era youth football camp at Mount Vernon Presbyterian School on Wednesday.
Cox, a spokesman for Gatorade’s Beat the Heat program, discussed staying hydrated with the campers.
Cox, 25, had 9.5 sacks last season and was named All-Pro. The former Mississippi State standout had $63 million of the new deal guaranteed.
Cox spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about his new deal, the Eagles’ quarterback controversy and the prospects of the Bulldogs in 2016:
Q: How big of an offseason has this been for you?
A: It was a really good thing to kind of get the contract thing behind me. I like everything that the team is doing right now. They are signing the players that have been there. They are signing players that they drafted. That says a lot about the direction that the organization is heading in.
Q: Is the focus on competing in the NFC East first in order to make a climb in the conference?
A: Really, the approach from a player's standpoint is, let's take care of the first game. That's the thing that you can't stress enough, take care of the first game and take it one practice at a time, one day at a time and one game at a time.
Q: How has coach Doug Pederson been received and what type of mentality has he tried to instill in the Eagles?
A: He just wants everybody to buy into what he's selling. Buy into what he's selling, buy into and believe and trust in the new offensive system. Guys on the defense love the new defensive system. That's the most important thing, you have guys buying what the new coach is selling.
Q: How did defensive guys look at the controversy with the quarterbacks Sam Bradford and Carson Wentz?
A: I wasn't there, but that type of stuff is kind of an individual thing because all of that stuff is voluntary. Voluntary means voluntary. You don't have to be there if you don't want to. So, I think everybody handled it well. Everybody loves Sam (Bradford). We can't wait to win a bunch of games with him
Q: How did that season-opening loss to the Falcons hurt?
A: I think we moved forward from that. We did have a chance to win that game. I guess it was just too many mistakes early on in the game that maybe caused us not to win that game. That was last year and we are looking forward to (opening) against Cleveland this year.
Q: What are the three keys for the Eagles to improve in 2016?
A: We really just have to make it about us. I think if we make it about us, that will cover all three of the things. Make it about us, play as a team and have fun. If you're not having fun doing it, there is no reason you should be doing it.
Q: What will be the keys for you over the rest of the offseason?
A: Really, it's been the offseason for me the whole time. I wasn't at camp or OTAs or any of that type of stuff. I did go to minicamp for three days, but the main thing for me, right now, is to make sure that I'm ready to roll for training camp.
Q: This is SEC country down here. How’s Mississippi State going to fare this season?
A: The Bulldogs are going to be good like every year.
