Demetrious Cox has not played in a football game since this past NFL preseason, just before the Cincinnati Bengals released the former Jeannette star.

Which explains why he can’t wait to suit up and sprint onto the field Sunday to begin his XFL career.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Cox said. “No matter what sport of level.”

The rebooted, eight-team league opens this weekend, and Cox will play for the New York Guardians against the Tampa Bay Vipers at 2 p.m. at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

The game will be televised by Fox.

“I’m hyped,” Cox said. “It’s exciting and something new. We’re the first (to play), so it’ll be fun to see how the atmosphere is. You put in the work for months, then all the anticipation for game day builds up. You finally get to release all of that when you run out and see the fans and the lights.”

Cox, 25, who played at Michigan State before making a few stops in the NFL, is listed as a No. 2 safety on the Guardians’ depth chart.

He was the second player picked in the fifth round — the 34th pick overall — in the XFL Draft.

“My goals are to just keep improving my craft, put good things on tape,” Cox said, “and win a lot of games, of course.”

Cox was cut by the Bengals in the preseason after signing a reserve/futures contract. He had been with practice squads with the Bengals, Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals before returning to Cincinnati.

He played in four games with the Panthers in 2017.

Other WPIAL/City League players who made XFL rosters includes Dorian Johnson (Belle Vernon), Will Clarke (Allderdice), Dravon Askew-Henry (Aliquippa), Christian Kuntz (Chartiers Valley) and Kenny Robinson (Imani Christian).

Askew-Henry, another safety, also plays for New York.

Johnson, who played at Pitt, is an offensive guard for the D.C. Defenders. He was a fourth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2017, but his NFL career was over shortly after when he was released following the preseason.

The Guardians quarterback is Penn State grad Matt McGloin, who was a starter for the Oakland Raiders. He spent the 2018 preaseason with the newly crowned Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

New York’s general manager and coach is former Steelers offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.

The XFL ran for one season, in 2001. The league is owned by pro wrestling promoter Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment.

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