Getty Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper
Is there a changing of the guard taking place among the Dallas Cowboys receiving corps?
A “prominent” team source divulged to Mike Fisher of CowboysSI.com that sophomore stud CeeDee Lamb could “overtake” four-time Pro Bowler Amari Cooper as Dallas’ No. 1 WR this upcoming season.
“There is talk inside The Star about second-year wide receiver CeeDee Lamb being the guy on the rise – maybe even rising above Amari Cooper in the 2021 NFL season,” Fisher wrote Monday.
Fisher anticipates a “healthy competition” between Cooper, who led the Cowboys with 1,114 receiving yards in 2020, and the club’s first-round investment fast-tracking to alpha-dog status. The two (and Michael Gallup) figure to duke it out in training camp — emphasis on “healthy” — and whichever pass-catcher shows better with quarterback Dak Prescott will carry the vaunted WR1 title.
Which is largely immaterial since pass-crazed coordinator Kellen Moore plans to satiate each of the collective. But, still, iron has never failed to sharpen iron, and there’s no such thing as too many weapons.
There are, however, worse crosses to bear.
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Cooper to Miss Start of Camp?
Fisher’s hearsay on the $100 million wideout piggybacks off previous reporting indicating Cooper may be sidelined at the beginning of training camp, which starts July 21. The 27-year-old underwent ankle surgery in January and, his recovery slower than anticipated, is “cutting it close” as the Cowboys prepare to depart for Oxnard.
“Amari Cooper and Dallas Cowboys training camp are about to cross paths, and despite the fact that the Pro Bowl receiver is still recovering from foot surgery, a source tells CowboysSI.com that the club is unconcerned about any long-term issues,” Fisher detailed earlier this month. “We have noted before, back on June 10, that the recovery, slow as it might be, is ‘not a crisis.’ And now we’re being told more timetable specifics. The team is scheduled to depart DFW for Oxnard training camp on July 20. The first workout is scheduled for Thursday, July 22. Cooper, we’re told, will be ‘cutting it close’ in terms of the rehab being complete just in time for a debut on that first workout day.”
Cooper appeared in all 16 games last season but has a noted history of lower-body maladies — hence concern he could land on the Physically Unable to Perform list, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported last month.
“Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper may not be ready for the start of training camp due to an ankle injury. It is not viewed as a major injury, but an ‘irritation’ in his ankle that came to be roughly two weeks ago and it has prohibited Cooper from running, Rapoport reported. Cooper is unlikely to be able to run for the next two-three weeks, because rest is needed to remedy the ankle, Rapoport added. The reasoning behind him missing the start of camp and possibly ending up on the physically unable to perform list comes amid concern that with his inability to run, Cooper might not be in proper shape to avoid reinjuring the ankle at that time.”
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