Super Bowl Isn’t Larger Than Life For Fletcher Cox

PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) - Sometimes the Super Bowl stage proves to be too large for certain players but don't expect that to be the case for Eagles Pro Bowl defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.

When Cox arrives in Minneapolis for Super Bowl LII, it will be his first time in the big game. Unlike most defensive linemen, however, Cox hasn't spent his time dreaming of sacking Tom Brady.

During a press conference with reporters at the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday, Cox admitted he doesn't even watch football or sports in general so he has no real Super Bowl memories.

"I don't watch football," Cox admitted. "I don't watch sports."

The national reporters who don't typically follow the Eagles on a day-to-day basis seemed surprised at that answer but it's hardly the first time Cox has admitted his Netflix rotation is going to top sports when he does get time to relax.

"I don't watch sports," he again insisted to some of the reporters he knows. "I've told you that before. You know that."

Cox's aversion to watching other teams is not about disliking his job or the sport he plays. It's a nod to the grind that is the NFL and after you've spent all the time practicing, lifting and watching film, the last thing many want to do when there is a little time to decompress is watch more football.

This time Cox is in the Super Bowl, however, as the Eagles try to win the first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history against the mighty New England Patriots and the greatest coach/quarterback tandem in NFL history, Bill Belichick and Brady.

"We have to play 60 minutes against them," Cox said when discussing the Patriots. "What makes Tom Brady unique is he gets rid of the football so quickly, and he doesn't really make mistakes. It's going to come down to us getting after them. It's about us, it's not about them."

Belichick, meanwhile, is aware of just how dominant Cox can be when Netflix isn't on.

"Cox is as good as anybody in the league at his position," the Pats coach said Wednesday. "He’s a very disruptive player, hard to block, run, pass, no matter what it is."

-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen