The New England Patriots had their way offensively against the Philadelphia Eagles in the second half, but that didn’t mean a major injury didn’t have an impact on how the game played out.
The Patriots lost wide receiver Brandin Cooks to a head injury early in the second quarter of their eventual loss, and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels admitted that the injury did hurt New England.
“Obviously it made an impact, somewhat,” McDaniels said, via Nick Shook of NFL.com. “I thought Phillip [Dorsett] and Chris [Hogan] really stepped up and really made a lot of big plays.
“Look, that’s what a football team does, you have to go through that every single week. You’ve got adversities whether you come into the game with injuries or you incur one in the middle of the game. Our guys are practiced and prepared and ready to do that, and I thought they did a good job. I’m more upset for [Brandin Cooks]. He has an opportunity to play in his first Super Bowl and then to get it cut short there that was disappointing for him individually.”
Cooks took a pretty nasty hit to knock him out of the game. Tom Brady certainly made do without him, but it still deprived New England of their big deep threat for nearly three full quarters.
