Cooper has five receptions for 27 yards so far for the Browns in 2024
The Cleveland Browns have started off the 2024 NFL season with a 1-1 record after getting pummeled by the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1 and surviving on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2. Given tiebreaker scenarios for the playoffs, winning the AFC game was much more important.
Unfortunately, the Browns have gotten very little out of their star receiver Amari Cooper so far this season. The team’s leading receiver since arriving in a trade, Cooper has five catches for 27 yards so far this year and a couple of drops.
Needless to say, the new incentives negotiated this offseason might be difficult to obtain at that rate.
While HC Kevin Stefanski and the star receiver were not worried about how offseason rumors could impact his performance, there is concern about his performance now. Only Cooper, and probably his teammates, know whether the performance issues are due to how the offseason went but seeing this kind of drop from him is close to shocking:
Two weeks in a row where Amari Cooper absolutely snatches a DBs ankles….and then drops the pass pic.twitter.com/bYctPO910U
— Browns Film Breakdown (@BrownsFilmBDN) September 16, 2024
While the 27 yards is very low for Cooper, it surprisingly isn’t his lowest two-game stretch of his career. Twice in October with the then-Oakland Raiders, once in 2017 and the other the following year, Cooper had even fewer yards.
In 2017, with EJ Manuel and Derrick Carr throwing him passes, Cooper had 17 yards combined between Weeks 4 and 5. In 2018, with Carr at quarterback, Cooper had 10 yards between Week 5 and 6 but only played in 12 snaps in the second game.
The Raiders traded Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys a week later.
Trying to figure out what is wrong in Cleveland with Cooper is tough. While he missed some of the offseason, Cooper was in training camp and practiced with QB Deshaun Watson. Perhaps it is the offseason rumors. Maybe the over 8,000 snaps on his legs are catching up with him.
Or, maybe, it is just a rough two-game stretch and the Cooper of old will be back starting in Week 3.
What do you think is the issue for Cooper so far this year? Are you surprised this isn’t his worst two-game stretch of receiving yards in his career?
