Christopher Price
HOUSTON — Bryan Cox hasn't changed much since 2001, other than the fact that there's a little more salt than pepper in his beard.
The quotable linebacker spent just one season with the Patriots, but he played a wildly underrated role as a leader for that Super Bowl team. The veteran provided a massive spark on a number of levels, both on and off the field. Particularly early in the season when things were a little dicey for a team that had suddenly gone from establish veteran Drew Bledsoe to untested youngster Tom Brady.
In the days leading up to Brady's first career start against Peyton Manning and the mighty Colts, Cox delivered an outrageous, R-rated assessment on his feelings about Manning and the high-powered Indy offense we can't print here. The PG version? Let's just say he wasn't the sort of guy to compliment the other quarterback just because he was playing well. He also added -- among other things -- that the Colts "put their pants on just like we put our pants on. We can compete. We can play. We can win. I'm looking to knock Peyton's head off."
And during that game, he delivered a momentous blast on Indy wide receiver Jerome Pathon that was a defensive tone-setter for the rest of the season, a shot that several players and coaches later said established a new era for New England's defense. If you come over the middle against this team, buddy, you'll do so at your own peril.
Basically? He was Johnny Gomes in shoulder pads. Only Cox could really play.
On Monday night, Cox — who is now Atlanta's defensive line coach — provided some pleasant memories of that memorable "lick" on Pathon, as well as the rest of the 2001 season.
"The only thing I remember about it was that Peyton Manning and the Colts were coming in, the highest-scoring offense in the league at the time," he said. "And I was just going to make sure we were going to do our jobs on defense and played as hard as we could. That lick came [out] to be a really good one."
Cox was football's version of the third rail when he came to New England prior to the start of the 2001 season. A veteran who had gotten himself run out of multiple cities because of a litany of infractions, he was one of Belichick's guys who followed him to multiple stops in those days before landing in New England for that one year. It's something that Cox has never forgotten.
"He means a lot. I love him to death," Cox said of Belichick. "When he was with the Jets as the coordinator and [Bill] Parcells brought me over, he utilized me and made people in this league think some positive things about me when I was down in my career.
"It was really a big change in my life because I think it taught me some things about myself," he added of his experience with the team in 2001. "And also helped mold me in a way that when you get a championship ring, no one can ever take that away. You earned that. I think that just kind of signified that in my career. It was a wonderful thing. A wonderful feeling."
Cox gained a measure of fame when "Hard Knocks" featured the Falcons in 2014. The occasionally salty dialogue? That now comes with a heavy dose of the wisdom he learned from his time in New England.
"The biggest thing I pass along, probably from Bill, is the 'Do your job' slogan. That thing started a long time ago," he said. "I started as far back as I remember, 1998. But at the end of the day, you learn great things from great coaches. You carry it not just on the football field, but in your life. That is what's really special to me."
Of course, being that this is Bryan Cox, he's not about to get overly sentimental, especially when you consider that Belichick will be on the opposing sideline on Sunday.
"At the end of the day, it's time to go do our job. It's about what we do. I'm not trying to get caught up. I'm not trying to live 15 years ago in the past. It's all about what we're going to do coming up this week on Sunday."
Cox leads one of the groups that could be a sizable difference maker on Sunday. Atlanta's defensive front has to be able to provide steady and consistent pressure on Brady if the Falcons are going to have a chance. And asked for an assessment about the New England offensive line, Cox remains typically candid.
"Nothing. Nothing," he said. "As I've said about the whole thing, it ain't about what they do. It's about what we do. And when you get focused and concentrate on what you're doing. And doing your job. You don't have to worry about what they are doing. Everybody knows that they have a good line. They haven't given up a lot of sacks. It's about what we do.
"They're not going to beat themselves. So you can't beat yourself. You have to line up and play ball. I have some things that I know that I know he's still saying, because it's worked for 20 years. It worked when he was in Cleveland. It worked when he was a coordinator with the Jets. It worked when he was in New York. It won't change. I know a little bit about the mindset over there and how they think."
In the end, he still has a soft spot for Belichick and what he did for his career. But come Sunday, that ends.
"Nothing. Let's go to work. You're standing in [the way of] my destiny," he said when asked about what it means to be on the other sideline from Belichick. "They're the enemy now. Let's go to work."
