BEREA: A little over two weeks ago, Browns right guard John Greco survived two challenging days of practice and a preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Gerald McCoy.
But that counted for nothing except pride. Sunday brings another member of Greco’s personal top three defensive tackles in the NFL, this time with the Browns’ 11-year season-opening losing streak and the health of new quarterback Robert Griffin III on the line.
In a 1 p.m. game at Lincoln Financial Field, Greco faces Philadelphia Eagles’ 2015 Pro Bowler Fletcher Cox. As if Cox’s career-high 9½ sacks last season weren’t enough to get Greco’s attention, there is the six-year, $103 million contract extension Cox signed in June that includes $63 million guaranteed.
“Definitely not the start that a guard would look forward to, two of the best in the game at their position,” Greco said Wednesday, referencing Cox and McCoy. The Rams’ Aaron Donald rounds out Greco’s top picks. “It’s a good challenge and I look forward to it.”
When the summer’s deals were done, Cox ended up as the third-highest paid non-quarterback in the league, trailing Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller and Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. That might seem like a huge expenditure, but Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman plans to build around Cox, 25, who the team traded up three spots to draft 12th overall in 2012. Roseman felt the price for Cox will only go up and didn’t want him to leave the team during his prime, so he locked up Cox through 2022.
“It’s hard to find players that can change the game on either side of the ball and then represent what you are about,” Roseman told si.com. “When I talked to Fletch when we did this, he’s got a chance to be a great player in the history of this franchise, and our responsibility is keeping as many great players as we can.”
Going into the season, Cox’s 22 sacks rank sixth all-time among Eagles’ interior defensive linemen, 6½ behind Jerome Brown, who died in a car crash after his fifth season.
New Eagles coach Doug Pederson, the former Browns quarterback, was an assistant under Andy Reid when Cox was selected. Pederson has watched the 6-foot-4, 310-pound Cox mature and develop into a “dominant force” on the defensive line.
“He’s obviously a leader of the football team and leader of the defense,” Pederson said in a conference call Wednesday. “The things that make him special are his attack mentality. He’s quick off the football, he’s powerful, he can generate pass rush and get to the quarterback.
“Teams are aware of that and are going to try to put four hands on him, which lets you know he’s got that respect around the National Football League. We knew that for us to get to where we need to, we had to keep a guy like Fletcher on this roster for a long time.”
Cox has sacked Griffin three times in his career, and recovered one of Griffin’s fumbles. Griffin sat on the Washington bench in 2015 when Cox enjoyed his best season and went to his first Pro Bowl.
The Browns will likely double-team Cox when they can, with center Cameron Erving helping out Greco. As the Eagles switch from a 3-4 to a 4-3 front, new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz might try to create one-on-one matchups with Erving, in his first year at center.
“He’s definitely one of the best guys in the league,” Erving said of Cox on Wednesday. “He just got paid one of the highest contracts in the league. You have to respect all that.
“He’s quick-twitch and he plays really hard. He gets off the ball really well for a big guy. He penetrates and he’s really powerful at the point.”
Greco said there will be times when he or Erving must handle Cox alone. Communication will be key and Greco said his chemistry with Erving has made tremendous progress from the spring. Greco added that the linemen paid extra attention to detail as they studied Cox’s tendencies.
“He’s a handful,” Greco said. “I’ve got to play my best game and start the season off right.”
Nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas seemed relieved that Cox isn’t likely to line up on his side.
“Fletcher’s a tremendous player. I probably won’t see him, thankfully,” Thomas said. “But the guards and center will have their hands full.”
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.