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What Sean McDermott said about new Bills WR Amari Cooper

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott spoke about recently acquired wide receiver Amari Cooper during his Tuesday media availability.

Kyle Silagyi

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The Buffalo Bills carved out a spot in the already-crowded NFL news cycle on Tuesday, striking a deal for five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper. The trade, which sends the former Cleveland Browns wideout across Lake Erie, gives a much-needed alpha wideout to a Buffalo receiving corps that had been unsuccessfully trying to replace the production vacated by Stefon Diggs in the aggregate; the seven-time 1,000-yard wide receiver has already caught 24 passes for 250 yards this season, making him the team’s new leader in both statistics despite the fact that he was playing with a significantly lesser quarterback in Cleveland.

Head coach Sean McDermott spoke about Cooper during his Tuesday media availability, expressing excitement about his impending arrival while reaffirming faith in the team’s pre-existing options.

“First and foremost, believe in the receivers that we already have in the room,” McDermott said. “We’ll see when Amari gets here how we can get him up to speed and integrated into what we do and how we do things. It’s never about one guy; we’re thankful to have him, but it’s never about just one guy. It’s about the team. We’re anxious to get him on board here and get rolling.”

Related: Why Amari Cooper was a better acquisition for Bills than Davante Adams

Cooper now headlines a receiving corps that also contains third-year pass-catcher Khalil Shakir and rookie Keon Coleman, both of whom have shown flashes throughout the first six games of the season. Both young wideouts figure to benefit from Cooper’s presence, as they’ll not only be able to pick his brain off the field, but benefit from the 30-year-old drawing defenders on it. 

McDermott went on to speak about the on-field impact the former fourth-overall pick will make.

“Those qualities are important . . . having the ability to get separation just adds to our flavor on offense,” McDermott said. “We’ve been doing some good things, and I think that’ll be an added bonus for us as we move forward here.”

Amari Cooper
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Though, again, excited about what Cooper will bring to One Bills Drive, McDermott warned about the dangers of deeming any acquisition as a singular beacon of hope. He’s confident that Cooper will be a valuable on-field addition, just as he’s been in his three previous professional stops; that said, his individual on-field impact, per McDermott, is less important when compared to how he gels with and benefits the larger team.

“Anytime you feel like you’re improving as a football team, I would say yes, [there is excitement], but again, on paper is one thing,” McDermott said. “At the end of the day, can the person playing help us? That’s really what we’re here to see over the next couple of days. I would hope that the answer to all of that is yes. Going up against Amari and having a ton of respect for him and his game, but again, we have players in the building that we’re already confident in and he’ll fit into that equation, and we’ll get him integrated. 

“Excited to see how quickly he can get up to speed here. One player doesn’t save a team, one player doesn’t make a team. It’s about the team. Sometimes, honestly, you bring a player in and it can get in the way sometimes. I’m not saying that in this case, but you get into a rhythm. Whenever you trade for a player, especially mid-season, it’s getting him up to speed and then him getting the rhythm that the team was already in. I’m looking forward to doing that and getting him onboard here.”

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Kyle Silagyi
KYLE SILAGYI

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