WR Amari Cooper (12.14.23)
How do you think it’s coming along with Joe (Flacco) now after two games?
“It’s coming along really well. As everybody has probably observed at this point, he throws a really good ball. The prototypical type quarterback. Tall, great arm, can look and read defenses. You know, he has a lot of great attributes, so I would say it’s going really well. I think the timing is impeccable. Obviously, you know, the sky’s the limit in terms of communication and things like that, but it’s looking good.”
Did you notice any improvements in his second game? Where was that?
“Improvement from what?”
Flacco.
“Well, as you know, the first game he started, I didn’t finish the game. But I think he played pretty well given the circumstances in that first game. Second game, obviously, I would say yeah, there was improvement because we won for sure.”
And when you look ahead to this Bears defense, really aggressive defense from what we’re hearing, just in terms of trying to punch the ball out, rake the ball out, what have you seen so far from those guys?
“Yeah, pretty much every defense you face is going to have those tendencies. I think the better defenses have it in a more exaggerated way. But practicing in this league, that’s what’s being harped on defensively, trying to get the ball out because the team who has the least amount of turnovers is a team that generally wins in the game. So yeah, they’re an aggressive defense, but I mean, that’s what we prepare for.”
Have you ever been with a team that’s been hit as hard by the injury bug as this one has this year?
“I think so. It’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. You’re used to guys getting hurt, but guys getting hurt for the season. Sometimes it just happens that way.”
Have you ever had a concussion? I’m sure you probably did, but you came back pretty quickly from that one. And were you happy to move through the protocol nice and quickly and get back out there?
“Yeah, I’ve had two before the previous one. Yes, same process every time. You got to go through the protocol, pass a couple of tests. Fortunately, I’ve never missed a game from having a concussion.”
AVP (Alex Van Pelt) was raving about the Bears’ corners, what was your impression?
“The corners?”
Yeah, especially the one, (Jaylon) Johnson.
“Yeah, Johnson. He looks good on film. He’s very instinctive, very smart player, has good ball skills. He’s good at baiting quarterbacks. He’s a patient player. He has a lot of good attributes, but I don’t expect anything less of an NFL player.”
When you talk about dealing with all these injuries, why do you think you guys been as successful as you have been, right? 8-5, right in the middle of things despite losing all the guys you have.
“I mean, winning in the NFL is about much more than simply having the talent from your starting guys. It could be about a lot of different things at once. Momentum plays a huge part. Camaraderie plays a huge part. Drive, motivation, it’s a lot of different factors, and I would say what I’ve seen from this team, the resilience and all those other factors that I just mentioned, we seem to check every box.”
In terms of Joe’s arm, you told us when we first talked to you about it that it was like poetry in motion. Now that he’s been out there with him for a couple of games, I mean, that’s a pretty darn good, nice ball that he throws, right?
“Yeah, it is. It truly is. If you ask most receivers, our hand-eye coordination is, we have some of the best hand-eye coordination in the world. When you’re running the route and you’re catching the ball, with our hand-eye coordination being so good, you don’t really want to think about catching the ball. I know that probably doesn’t make a lot of sense, but we’re so used to catching the football that we don’t really think about catching it. We locate it, we see where it’s going to go. We just snag it and go. But sometimes with different quarterbacks, they throw harder with less touch than a Joe Flacco. And sometimes you have to focus in more and actually think about catching the ball, too. And we don’t really like doing that. So every time you get a quarterback like Joe who just throws it, such a good ball where you don’t even have to think about catching it. We say he has touch and we like the way he throws.”
It seems there’s been a lot of back shoulder throws. Is that more likely with a veteran would be able to do that?
“Yeah, I think with a veteran like Joe, the completion percentage is something that they’ve been around for so long that they just know the small nuances, the small secrets. Like, okay, this guy’s not really open on this go ball, but I can throw him open. So I think that’s his state of mind when he does that.”
How surprised are you that you’re able to build that connection so early? Sort of talking about back shoulder throws, it’s got to be communication between receiver and quarterback. How has he been able to do that so quickly?
“That’s a better question for him. I’ve been surprised myself. He seems to be very poised back there. He just seems to have a great understanding of what’s expected of the quarterback position. I don’t know. I’ve been very surprised by him, by how fast he was able to pick up the playbook and things like that. He’s been surprising.”
Are those back shoulder throws the plan or is that an option that you guys work on?
“No. Everywhere I’ve been, the coaching point is the same when it comes to a back shoulder. You don’t really plan to throw a back shoulder ball. The receiver, he has a go ball, he’s running full speed. He’s trying to stack the corner back. He’s trying to win over the top. A back shoulder is something that you always just adjust to. It’s not something that’s planned.”
Does Joe bring some of that, maybe a little bit of Jacoby Brissett type leadership that sort of knit everybody together, especially during a difficult time?
“Sure. I mean, most of the quarterbacks that I’ve played with, they’ve all displayed a tremendous leadership. You know, Joe has that as well, just like Jacoby had it.”
Last two games, guys had eight, nine receivers involved. How important is that? I know you want to have the pass, but how important is that to spread out those passes and you guys being able to involve so many guys in the passing game?
“Yeah, I think it’s utterly important because we’re in December football. That’s what we’re hopping on right now. It’s kind of different once you get to this mode of football. You’re inching closer to playoff football and it’s just a different brand of football. I would say it’s much more serious. Teams seem to, I don’t know, be on the P’s and Q’s, more scheming and everything like that. I’ve been in situations too where the ball wasn’t really spread around that much in playoff games, December football, and if the defense knows where the ball is going, they can easily stop it. So when in doubt, spread it out.”
How happy were you for David Bell to get that touchdown pass?
“I was just as happy as he was. As you can see, he had a huge smile on his face as he was entering the end zone. And I had to smile because he’s been working hard. He’s a hard worker, he’s a very reliable teammate and he deserved it for sure.”
You talk about how quickly Joe connected to you guys on throwing the ball, but how about how quickly he just seemed to slide right in as being part of the team rather than just an outsider coming in?
“Yeah, I think those two things actually pretty much go hand in hand. I mean, guys in this league, they respect guys who have been in the league a long time because they know that it’s something that’s not easy to do. It’s not easy to sustain ability for a long period of time. He’s a Super Bowl winner coming in here, having an arm that he has, being such a great talent. Guys respect that. So you respect a player. It’s easy to build camaraderie with them.”
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