You can call Amari Cooper anything you want. You can't question the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver's commitment to playing football, though.
Despite injuring his rib during Week 1, Cooper continued to play on Week 2 for the Cowboys against the Los Angeles Chargers. He had a solid performance, but he seemed to reaggravate that rib injury of his. Despite that, though, the Cowboys listed the wide receiver without any designation, indicating that Cooper will start and is ready to go.
Cowboys WR Amari Cooper (cracked rib) carries no game status designation for Monday vs. Eagles. He will start. https://t.co/VQVwT8urw5
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) September 25, 2021
When asked by Cowboys correspondent Calvin Watkins on how he's able to play through injury, Cooper credited his college coach, the legendary Nick Saban. He said: (via Calvin Watkins on Twitter)
Article Continues Below“Saban, he put another guy in front of me cause I kind of kept taking myself out the game and it just messed up the continuity of everything so now I just I'd rather play hurt than to be switching with a guy in there.”
Amari Cooper said he learned to play hurt at Alabama: “Saban, he put another guy in front of me cause I kind of kept taking myself out the game and it just messed up the continuity of everything so now I just I'd rather play hurt than to be switching with a guy in there.”
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) September 25, 2021
Alabama under Nick Saban was a force to be reckoned with. The legendary college coach had an array of players at his disposal if ever one of his regulars was injured. Because of that, Cooper learned that if he wanted to stay on the field, he needed to sustain any injuries he had and push through them. That mentality has since stuck with him until now, as he never missed a game for the Cowboys.
Cooper's commitment to playing for his team is commendable. The Cowboys are certainly lucky to have a guy like Amari Cooper who's willing to go to battle at any time. However, they also need to know when to protect their players from further hurting themselves. Hopefully, all goes well for Cooper as the Cowboys are set to face their rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, on Sunday.