Cowboys 'Camp Cover-Up': Is Something Wrong With Amari Cooper?

Thanks To Dallas Cowboys 'Camp Cover-Up,' We're Left To Wonder: Is Something Wrong With Amari Cooper?

FRISCO - It's a natural question. And here at Camp Cover-Up, it's become a natural answer.

“No I don’t, no,'' Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy replied this week when asked if he has health concerns regarding Amari Cooper. Not at all.”

And yet Cooper, the Pro Bowler who just signed a $20-million-per-year deal to remain with Dallas, is suddenly experiencing a repeat of last summer, when an assortment of ailments prevented him from truly being a participant in training camp.

This year, Cooper has now remained on the sideline for three straight practice days when the Cowboys shift into "live-action'' team drills.

McCarthy offered an explanation that is, I think, needlessly lengthy and intentionally vague.

“Once again, there’s all kinds of information that goes into those decisions,'' McCarthy said, "and that’s a daily adjustment. I wouldn’t read into it. We have the benefit of resources to make calculations and roll guys in and out of there. 

"At the end of the day, you’re obviously trying to get ready schematically, you’re trying to get your fundamentals in order, you’re trying to hit the things from a technical standpoint that you need to get done. And let’s not forget we’re still evaluating our football team.”

Let's slice that up, shall we?

*"The information that goes into decisions'' - Part of what McCarthy is talking about there is the technology that helps the Cowboys (and NFL and NBA teams) gauge how much energy an athlete is exerting - the distance he runs in a day, and much, much more.

This is plausible; Cooper's 2019 injury history alone makes the idea of keeping low his wear-and-tear a sensible plan.

Indeed, owner Jerry Jones, speaking Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan, spoke on that same technological issue.

"We have some of the most sophisticated health measuring systems in place,'' Jones said. "Some of them are as sophisticated as they can tell you how your muscles are firing ... So, if you've got a player performing at an extraordinary level for his measureables ... you pull him back some. ...That's come into play."

Again, plausible. And, I'll argue, likely. What the Cowboys are doing here is "techno-preventative.''

It's too bad McCarthy didn't say just that, but ...

*"You’re obviously trying to get ready schematically'' - Gibberish. This would be a reason for Cooper to participate, not a reason for him to watch.

*"You’re trying to get your fundamentals in order.'' - Gibberish. Having Noah Brown, or whomever, taking Amari's snaps might help Brown's "fundamentals.'' But that doesn't help Amari's "fundamentals,'' which is infinitely more important.

*"Let’s not forget we’re still evaluating our football team.” Again, the "evaluation' of a Jon'Vea Johnson is not the reason Amari Cooper sits for three straight days.

*"I wouldn’t read into it.'' - OK, coach, but last summer some in the Cowboys organization tried to tell me to "not read into'' the fact that over the course of the year, starting with his inactive summer and lasting all season long, Amari dealt with a heel injury, plantar fasciitis in his left foot, then a right ankle problem, then a quad problem, then a bruised knee and then another knee problem.

We are obliged to read into it.

Amari Cooper has at different times in his two seasons here been a premium difference-maker. And even with the injuries, he played in all 16 games in 2019 and posted career-highs in yardage (1,189) and touchdowns (eight). 

READ MORE: Amari Cooper 'Expects 3 1,000-Yard Receivers This Year

The good new is that there is no evidence of changes around here in the plan for Amari to lead a receiving trio also featuring Michael Gallup and rookie CeeDee Lamb. Cowboys fans certainly hope that's the case, and that all that's being "covered-up'' is a risk of injury ... and not the truth about an injury itself.