After a Year Recovering, Jaguars’ Cooper Hodges Is Embracing the Process

Cooper Hodges missed his entire first season due to a knee injury, but the year off could lead to even bigger things ahead.

Cooper Hodges looks on during the 2023 Jaguars Rookie Minicamp held at TIAA Bank Field. / Juston Lewis/Florida Times-Union / USA

In the vast majority of cases, the start of organized team activities is a formality. It is a ho-hum part of the NFL offseason, a minor stepping stone on the way to training camp and, eventually, the regular season.

But not for Jacksonville Jaguars guard Cooper Hodges. Not on Monday.

Monday's practice was the first time Hodges has participated in a practice since sustaining a knee injury last August.

For Hodges, a 2023 seventh-round pick out of Appalachian State, Monday meant much more. It meant a return to what he loves. It meant the process was working.

"I got out of bed a little bit faster this morning," Hodges told Jaguar Report after Monday's practice, beaming a smile.

"You know, I was excited to come out here and just have the opportunity to just remind myself hey, I'm still a ballplayer. I can still come out here and play with them."

After an extremely encouraging start in training camp that caught the eyes of the coaching staff, media, and fans, Hodges saw his rookie year evaporate in seconds. Hodges was injured in a preseason game against the Detroit Lions, being carted off the field on Aug. 19. Before Monday, this was the last time Hodges had been on a field.

From pushing for a top backup role to landing on injured reserve, Hodge's rookie season changed in a second. But the lessons learned from the pain and the process are lessons Hodges is going to carry with himself into 2024 and beyond.

"First thing I had to do was tell myself like this is football, that kind of stuff happens you know. You're not gonna go through a long career not get injured. You ask any of those guys, Brandon [Scherff], Mitch [Morse], all those guys, they know how it is," Hodges said. "And then the second part I guess for me was, you know, I kind of missed my whole rookie year and came off -- I started off hot, I was playing really well. You know, I guess for me, it's just kind of reminding myself hey, I'm still really good at football and just come get back and just get back into that groove."

There was initially hope that Hodges would be able to return at some point in the 2023 season. Despite his injury, he still entered the season on the Jaguars' 53-man roster. The hope was that, eventually, Hodges would be healthy enough to at the very least practice during the season.

But that never happened. Instead, Hodges underwent surgery for his patella injury and had to watch the rest of the Jaguars' season from the sidelines.

"I was going to try to come back and then end up needing surgery, you know, so that whole first part, you know, we were kind of thinking all right, am I not gonna have the surgery? And am I ready to do this?" Hodges said.

"You know, so you just kind of get to know your body, that kind of thing. But just that mental part of getting like getting past that and come being and preparing yourself to play again is it's it's a tough battle. But end of the day, it's worth it just being out here again."

Despite not seeing the field in 2023, Hodges and the process still lead to some development. He soaked in as much as he could about the scheme and assignments. He sat near Scherff in meetings to monitor how the Pro Bowl guard went about his business.

And, most importantly, Hodges worked, battled, and fought to come back. To show that the process was worth it. To show that he could do it.

"First things first is like, it's your body, you know, you got to take care of yourself. And you got to take necessary precautions. Like for me, I was here, you know, I didn't really have an offseason," Hodges said.

"I was here five days a week doing rehab, just trying to get ready for this. You know what I mean? I didn't want to be still rehabbing coming into this. So it's just been staying consistent with it and just battling back, man. It's hard. Everybody knows it's hard. If it wasn't hard, everybody would do it."