Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper has had perhaps the worst start to a season in his career this year. And on Friday, he admitted that his play hasn’t been good enough for his team.
Cooper, who has been a Pro Bowler five times in his career, including last year when he recorded 72 receptions for a career-high 1,250 yards, simply hasn’t been much of a factor this year. In two games, Cooper has recorded just five receptions for 27 yards.
There is a real argument that this is the worst two-game stretch of his career to this point. And in a conversation with reporters earlier this week, he didn’t mince words about his play “not being up to his standard”.
“Just got to play better,” Cooper said this week, via Pro Football Talk. “I don’t look at the inch here, inch there. I mean yeah, it does play a factor sometimes, but just me knowing my game, knowing myself, just got to go out there and play my brand of football, play up to my standards. So I haven’t been doing that for the past couple of weeks.
“You want to go out there and play your best brand of football individually as early as possible, so definitely been frustrating, but it is what it is. You’ve got to go out there and just play your game, get back focused, lock back in and that’s what I’m looking to do.”
Perhaps one explanation for his slow start is the lack of experience playing with starting quarterback Deshaun Watson, which is actually more of a knock on Watson than it is on Cooper.
In three years with the Browns, Watson has started just 18 total games. And clearly, for one reason or another, he and Cooper aren’t on the same page.
Only time will tell whether we see Cooper return to his normal steady play as we progress through the season. But given his track record of success, don’t expect him to be this quiet for all that much longer.
