It was a tale of two seasons for Amari Cooper. A top candidate for rookie of the year after nine games, Cooper entered the Vikings game with 50 receptions for 732 yards – on pace for 89 receptions, 1,301 yards.
Instead, Cooper was plagued by injures (first his quad, then his foot) over the second half of the season. Raiders’ head coach Jack Del Rio downplayed Cooper’s injuries at the time, but according to Reggie McKenzie who spoke with SiriusXM NFL on Wednesday, the Raiders considered shutting down Cooper during the season due to his foot injury.
#Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie said team considered "shutting down" @AmariCooper9 in Dec because of foot injury.Impressed how he toughed it out
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) January 28, 2016
While dealing with his foot, Cooper struggled to create separation from defenders. He tallied just 10 receptions for 140 yards over the final four games of the season.
Derek Carr and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave drew criticism for a struggling offense late in the season, but the first step to getting back on track will be returning a healthy Amari Cooper. The Raiders averaged 26.6 points per game before Cooper’s quad injury and 18.3 points per game thereafter.
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