Getty Amari Cooper
That Amari Cooper remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list is of little concern to Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy.
Speaking Sunday, McCarthy updated the status of the team’s $100 million wide receiver, who’s progressing well in his rehabilitation from offseason ankle surgery.
“Amari, he looks great. Everything’s been extremely positive from the strength staff,” he said, via the official Cowboys website. “I know him and (athletic trainers) Britt (Brown) and Jim (Maurer) were trying to talk about a potential timeline of when he thinks he’ll come off of PUP. We’re still working through that. His weight is as low as it’s been since I’ve worked with him. He looks great.”
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Amari Expected to Return this Month
Cowboys owner/general manager/pseudo-doctor Jerry Jones revealed last week that Cooper — along with defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (PUP, back) — likely will return to action before the club’s Aug. 13 preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.
“I bet it’s after Arizona,” Jones said, via The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “We’ll get some game activity, I think, out of [the players on PUP].”
Per ESPN’s Todd Archer, Jones said he anticipates Cooper and Lawrence receiving “at least a little game action” during the exhibition period ahead of Dallas’ regular-season opener at Tampa Bay.
“D-Law, same deal. He’s in tremendous shape. Those timelines will be discussed here probably in about a week,” McCarthy said Sunday.
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McCarthy Speaks on Other Injuries
Joining Cooper and Lawrence on the sideline for Thursday’s preseason-opening Hall of Fame Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers will be quarterback Dak Prescott (shoulder) and kicker Greg Zuerlein (back, PUP) — among others.
“Our injury list is getting a little long,” McCarthy said Sunday, per USA Today. “We play Thursday night, we get back here very late Friday, and then we have the competitive practice Saturday against the Rams. So I’m focusing on the balance of reps between the game and that Saturday practice, because that’s almost like a two-part focus for us… I’ve got to make sure I take care of the roster from a health standpoint.”
The Cowboys are expected to break camp in Oxnard, Calif., following their second aforementioned exhibition contest versus Arizona, and return to their regular-season home at The Star in Frisco. It’s at this point, McCarthy explained, that balancing practice reps and injuries will become much simpler.
“Once we get into next week, we’re going to start trying to get into an in-season mode,” he said, per USA Today. “We’re coming to the point in training camp where you’ve got to transition your team out of install-football into in-season football. You’ve got to get everybody regulated.”
McCarthy added: “There’s a sense, in talking to the staff: some of these guys we’ve got to protect from themselves. Their training is so over the top.”
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Cowboys Issue Statement on Amari Cooper for 2021 Season