Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper was limited in practice earlier this week due to what was originally reported to be bruised ribs.
As it turns out however, Cooper’s injury, which was suffered in the team’s September 9 opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is much more severe.
While meeting with reporters on Friday, Cooper revealed that he actually has a cracked rib. Despite the injury, the receiver intends to play on Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Why? The answer, Cooper says, is simple.
“See, that’s the thing about football, you play once a week, which is tremendous for us,” Cooper said, via the Dallas Morning News. “How much you can heal in seven days, the healing process is great over that amount of time. It’s not like basketball where you can play today and have another game in two days so if I hurt it in the game — you know what I mean? So I don’t worry about like if I can hurt it again in the game because I can hurt it badly in the game but I know I have seven days.”
That mentality goes back to Cooper’s days at Alabama. He saw how quickly opportunities can vanish due to injury, so he adopted the mindset of old-school football players (at least those played under Bill Parcells).
Amari Cooper said he learned to play hurt at Alabama: “Saban, he put another guy in front of me cause I kind of kept taking myself out the game and it just messed up the continuity of everything so now I just I'd rather play hurt than to be switching with a guy in there.”
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) September 25, 2021
At the end of the day, pain is temporary. Right now, Cooper is focused on being the best.
Cowboys WR Amari Cooper tells us he’ll be good to go vs. Eagles. Is rib bruised?
“Cracked,” Amari tells us. Says he doesn’t want to miss games because “I want to be the best.” pic.twitter.com/lHzVJhwHSn
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) September 24, 2021
In two games this season, Cooper has hauled in 16 reception for 163 yards and two touchdowns but managed just three receptions for 24 yards in Week 2.
