Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper will not play in the preseason but the 25-year-old said his foot injury is not a concern.
For the third time in seven seasons dating to college, the fleet-footed Cooper is felled by a foot injury.
Cooper, starting his first full season with the Cowboys, dealt with a foot injury as a rookie with the Oakland Raiders and before that as a sophomore at Alabama. This summer, he was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and has missed three weeks of practice.
“I’m not really worried,” Cooper said in an interview with USA Today. “It’s not really that bad, especially just walking around. But to do the things that I do on the field, obviously I’m cutting really hard, I’m stopping really hard.”
Now in his fifth season, Cooper said he’s accustomed to playing with injuries if necessary.
“I played with a lot of foot injuries,” Cooper said. “I played with high ankle sprains. All those things so I’m pretty good at playing with foot injuries. But I don’t think I’m going to have to play with it.”
The Pro Bowl wideout enters the final year of his contract as a focal point of the passing game in Dallas. With running back Ezekiel Elliott missing from the startling lineup as well — Elliott is holding out for a new deal with two years remaining on his rookie contract — the Cowboys have an assortment of variables to figure out before the opener against the New York Giants on Sept. 8.
“Of course I feel like I’m missing things because I’m missing practice,” Cooper said. “But, like I said, I’m able to keep up mentally. … The plays are, for the most part, the same or similar. It’s a lot of the same routes from my perspective.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the team has a “generous” offer on the table to Cooper. It’s not known whether his current health status caused the offer to be placed on hold.
Cooper’s value could be on the rise with Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones, a former college rival at Georgia, set to be the league’s highest-paid receiver based on comments from Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff. Earlier this month, the New Orleans Saints made Michael Thomas the top-paid player at the position with a $100 million deal.
Cowboys VP Stephen Jones said the Cowboys are not planning to set the market with their skill position deals.
–Field Level Media
