Cox Finally Getting a Leg Up : Rams: Fifth-year receiver, with two healthy hamstrings, might be on the way to his best NFL season.
Here’s a script idea for one of those made-for-television movies that celebrates man’s minor triumphs in the face of adversity. Let’s call it, “On a ‘String and a Prayer, The Aaron Cox Story.”
Quiet, devout, wide receiver is the first-round draft pick of his hometown team, but the same year, the team drafts another receiver in the second round. The other receiver has a flashy nickname and he’s faster than a speeding dolphin. The quiet, devout player starts all but one of the games during his rookie season , and the one with the nickname starts just one. Then the quiet guy strains his hamstring--again and again and again--and the other guy goes on to NFL stardom.
At the moment, Cox is working on a new, happy ending. Flipper Anderson is the one limping these days, so the strain is on the other ‘string. And Cox is the Ram receiver making those big third-down catches on the Sunday night highlight shows.
Sunday against Phoenix, Cox had five catches, all in the second half, for 74 yards. He caught a 17-yarder to start the Rams on a 13-play touchdown drive that gave them a 14-13 lead. And he had two receptions in the last two minutes, the second a 14-yarder after which he dived out of bounds at the Phoenix 27 to stop the clock with 12 seconds to play.
Jim Everett’s pass was intercepted on the next play, but Cox had helped the Rams get in a position where they could take a shot at the end zone and a victory.
“I’m feeling pretty good right now,” said Cox, who played at Dorsey High School and Arizona State before being drafted by the Rams in 1988. “You always want to be the guy they throw to in crucial situations and make all the big plays. It’s not being selfish, you just have to have that attitude. It’s just competitiveness.”
Cox, 27, has played in every game this season and has started the last three. As a starter, he has 11 catches for 110 yards. With 16 receptions for 235 yards on the season, he’s on pace to have his best year in the NFL.
“I’m getting a lot more balls thrown my way, so I’m getting more chances to feel comfortable with making certain catches and doing things after I catch the ball,” Cox said. “It just feels great to be in the groove and getting a good sweat going and not just coming in every now and then.
“I hadn’t had a five-catch game since my rookie year. It feels great to get it going again.”
No one ever doubted Cox’s ability to run a route, get open or hang onto the ball when he’s healthy. The only thing holding him back has been a pair of particularly fragile hamstrings.
“As far as health, I’ve been banged up a little bit here and there,” Cox said. “Last week, I got my shin damaged, but I can play on that. That’s not like a muscle pull.
“My hamstrings have held up pretty good so far. Some guys have bad knees, I’ve just had bad hamstrings for a while. Hopefully it’s all in the past. I just prayed a lot and God answered my prayers. That’s really all I can attribute (the well-being of) my hamstrings to.”
Cox has tried other avenues, however. He has been through strange stretching exercise regimens, altered his diet and even tried sleeping on a mattress equipped with magnets that are supposed to help increase blood flow and reduce the chance of injury.
Still, in each of the past three seasons, he has been hampered by sore hamstrings. This year, for the first time since his rookie training camp, Cox made it through the summer without a significant leg injury. The time on the practice field, he says, has provided him with the background he needed to succeed when given the opportunity to play.
“That has really made a big difference,” Cox said, “and the other difference between this year and the past four is that the first two guys don’t take all the reps in practice. Sometimes, we’ll do 24 plays in a row, so Flipper and Henry (Ellard) can’t take all the reps, they would pass out.
“So I’m getting a lot more opportunities in practice to make three or four plays in a row and that helps a lot.”
No one knows better than Cox the negative effects of missing practice. That knowledge played a significant role in his decision not to hold out during contract negotiations this summer. He believed then--and now figures he has proven--that he is worth more than the reported $270,000 one-year deal he signed, but reasoned that participating in camp was his only chance to retain his spot on the roster.
After all, the Rams had signed 10-year veteran Jeff Chadwick from Seattle during the Plan B period and used a third-round pick on LSU receiver Todd Kinchen.
“I definitely believe I did the right thing,” Cox said. “My whole objective was to come out and work hard, try to get better, stay healthy and do the best that I can. Then everything else will fall in place. One year of not making what I want to financially is not going to kill me. But if I take care of business the way I’m supposed to, the way I know I can, I’ll make up for it eventually.”
Cox says he doesn’t waste time thinking about what might have been. He’s developed a close relationship with Anderson and doesn’t begrudge him any of his success, even if it may have slowed his own progress.
“I believe in putting everything in God’s hands and it will work out,” he said. “If I were to try to do it on my own, I wouldn’t be able to survive worrying about it all the time. That’s one thing I have going for me, I don’t worry. I do my best and let things happen in God’s plan.”
So far, his prayers have been answered, and he’s no longer ‘strung out.
