Brenton Cox Jr. overcomes odds to make Packers' 53-man roster
The ascension of Green Bay Packers undrafted rookie Brenton Cox Jr. has certainly been one of the best stories of the summer. After a tumultuous college career, the former Florida Gator and Georgia Bulldog made plenty of plays throughout training camp and the preseason. And as a result, he is officially a member of the […]
The ascension of Green Bay Packers undrafted rookie Brenton Cox Jr. has certainly been one of the best stories of the summer. After a tumultuous college career, the former Florida Gator and Georgia Bulldog made plenty of plays throughout training camp and the preseason.
And as a result, he is officially a member of the Packers' initial 53-man roster, per The Athletic's Matt Schneidman.
Per Pro Football Focus, Cox led the Packers with seven total pressures during the preseason. He didn't record a sack, but his six hurries also led the team and he even finished with a team-best two pass break-ups.
Cox was kicked off two teams in college -Georgia and Florida- for multiple reasons, but Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said earlier in the week that the team wiped the slate clean with Cox and his future was in his hands.
“Our philosophy is that I don’t really care what’s happened in the past,” LaFleur told reporters Sunday. “You come here [and] you have a clean slate and you can write your own story. Those guys have embraced that and they’ve done a really nice job for us and that’s the expectation moving forward. You’re under constant evaluation throughout your own time here and we’ll make sure that we uphold that standard for them and they’ve gotta go along with that.”
With Cox on board, there's a chance the Packers carry six OLBs, but if they don't the natural -and logical- thought is veteran pass rusher Justin Hollins will be the one who is let go. Hollins ran with the 1s multiple times over the summer and he started five games with the Los Angeles Rams before coming to Green Bay mid-2022, but with the emergence of Cox and the continued development of JJ Enagbare – he could very well find himself on the outs.
Packers 2023 Roster Cuts Tracker
The Packers’ preseason is officially over, which means roster cuts are right around the corner. Keep up with everything, here.
Featured image via Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
