At no point during the 2021 offseason did Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper have August 18th circled on his calendar as a day of any real significance. But all of a sudden, the team’s Wednesday practice session could be the deciding factor in when Cooper’s seventh NFL campaign finally kicks off.
The 27-year-old has been sidelined as he recovered from two ankle surgeries earlier in the year and painful inflammation that kept him off to the side for most of training camp. But now with a clean bill of health, Cooper is making up for lost time in practice and wants badly to get into this Saturday’s preseason game versus Houston.
“Yeah, I want to play, for sure. I got word that I was playing,” Cooper said Tuesday via the team website.
But the midweek practice session will likely decide.
“I would really have to run the full route tree,” he said, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. “There’s just a lot that I haven’t done. When I was 100%, I did everything. I ran every route. Some things on the football field are harder to do than others. I haven’t really done the more challenging aspects of my position yet.”
Sounds like Amari Cooper is planning to do some work Saturday night against Houston. The goal is to ramp up his activity tomorrow in practice, then hopefully play 10 or so snaps against the Texans.
— David Helman (@HelmanDC) August 17, 2021
Cooper has increased his strength over the past few months, which he believes will make him even faster on the field. But he’s also dropped weight; USA Today’s Jori Epstein details many of the changes he’s made, including cutting out late-night wing orders and eating at all after 8 p.m. Gehlken notes that Cooper’s recovery was hindered by a Vitamin D deficiency, something else his new dietary regimen looks to address.
The inflammation is a “whole lot better now,” Cooper says.
Monday was Cooper’s first practice back, though he had done some light pitch-and-catch work with Dak Prescott last week. While he doesn’t want to push it too far and risk a setback, Cooper knows the chance to get in a preseason game would be an important step to being ready for opening night.
“With me, I just want to do enough to feel confident going into Week 1,” he said. “I just started practicing, so it’s just about getting my legs back underneath me and getting my confidence back.”
A handful of snaps against the Texans could be a big boost to that confidence.
But Cooper’s work on Saturday night likely comes down to the work he puts in on Wednesday.
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