For an NFL future, former Gators defensive end Brenton Cox needs to learn from his past | Whitley

As the NFL galaxy descended on Gainesville last week, Anthony Richardson wanted to show he’s the best player a team could draft.

Brenton Cox Jr. wanted everyone to know he’s the most misunderstood.

In the world according to Brenton, he’s not really a gifted problem child who continually wears out his welcome. The fact he was even at Florida’s Pro Day provided a shred of proof.

Billy Napier kicked Cox off the team last season. Yet there the ex-defensive end was Thursday, running, lifting and performing other football feats in front of NFL coaches and scouts.

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“Brenton’s played a lot of football here, right?” Napier explained. “You know, graduated from here. So that was part of the arrangement. We fully support him and his transition.”

The fact Cox didn’t totally burn his bridges in Gainesville should count for something, I guess. But beyond that, the signals of maturation are still mixed.

He looked like a beast as he sweated through drills with his shirt off. But Cox has always had an NFL body. His main job now is trying to convince teams he has a professional mindset.

It might have helped if he’d taken a few questions from the mass of reporters who’d shown up primarily to watch Richardson. Cox declined, though he did speak to the media at the East-West Shrine Bowl in January.

Cox shown the door at Florida and Georgia

It should be noted that Cox was not only booted at Florida, but also at Georgia. Why the double-whammy?

“I mean, it’s not my business to figure out why another man did something else,” Cox said. “I just tell (teams) I’m a hard-nosed guy and I’m ready to move on from it.”

Let’s hope he’s giving prospective employers a better answer, because it is definitely his business to figure out why Napier and Kirby Smart sent him packing.

Cox was a 5-star recruit in 2018 and starting by the end of his freshman season. As loaded as Georgia’s defenses have been, Smart wouldn’t boot a talent like Cox without good reason.

“Me and coach Smart, we agreed, mutual decision, for me to leave,” Cox said.

The fact he was arrested for marijuana possession might have something to do with it. Though apparently that was just the last of many straws.

It was on to Florida and he was arguably the team’s best player in 2021. At least when he wasn’t taking plays off or freelancing his assignments or being a locker room lawyer. Napier said Cox’s dismissal after last year’s Georgia game was due to a “cumulative effect.”

The final straw in this case was Cox taking a swing at a Georgia player after the Bulldogs scored a touchdown. When the hammer came down, Cox was supposedly flabbergasted.

“It is truly a shock,” he posted on social media. “I have always had a competitive spirit. I think sometimes that gets misconstrued.”

To hear Cox tell it, he’s just a misunderstood pass rushing genius. Sort of like a Galileo in cleats, his exceptional abilities and zeal sometimes conflict with societal norms. One norm being you don’t try to punch an opposing player after he bulldozes you into the end zone.

Just like Georgia, Cox said leaving Florida was a “mutual decision.”

“I definitely think there was just a miscommunication and a misunderstanding,” he said. “I made the best decision to go ahead with my professional career and, you know, move forward.”

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Cox had a good week at the East-West Shrine Bowl. He raved about the pro coaches who were in charge, and the direct approach they took.

“That’s what I prefer. Just tell me what I need to do, where I need to go, and we can work,” Cox said. “I correspond better with that.”

That’s his sales pitch to NFL teams. They can certainly be forgiving when it comes to a player’s foibles. But they also like employees who take responsibility, who learn from their mistakes.

It seems all Cox really learned from college is how to mutually agree to leave it.

“He certainly looks great today,” Napier said as Pro Day wound down. “He’s been working hard, and I think he’s going to get a new opportunity and he will make the most of that.”

It would help if Cox recognized why his last two opportunities went sideways. And that his next welcome is one he can’t afford to wear out.

David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidEWhitley

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Ex-Florida Gator Brenton Cox wants to show NFL he's not a problem child