Amari Cooper says he will play through foot injury if it lingers

Amari Cooper has been battling the type of injury that tends to linger and is prone to being aggravated, but the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver has no concerns about it affecting his availability for Week 1.

Cooper has been out since the second week of training camp with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, and he is not going to play at all during the preseason. The hope is that he will be 100 percent healed by Week 1, but Cooper told reporters on Wednesday that he will play through the injury if not.

“I mean I played with a lot of foot injuries,” Cooper said, per Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “So I’m pretty good at playing with foot injuries. But I don’t think I’m going to have to play with it.”

Cooper has just over two weeks to heal, as the Cowboys open the season against the New York Giants on Sept. 8. He insists he will not miss the game either way, as he has played through plantar fasciitis in the past and been effective.

“I’m not worried about it at all because I know if it does linger, it doesn’t matter,” Cooper said. “I had 1,000 yards when I played on plantar fasciitis before — my rookie year. So I’m not really worried.”

Obviously, the Cowboys would prefer if it did not come to that. They already have some serious question marks with their offensive core heading into Week 1, so having a healthy No. 1 receiver will be fairly important.