Eagles wide receive Riley Cooper returned to action today as the Birds worked out with the New England Patriots at the Nova Care Complex in South Philadelphia. After what was a good workout for Cooper, who pulled down a few touchdown passes in the practice, he talked to a bevy of media people.
“I realize that to be in the NFL, you have a responsibility to behave on and off the field,” said Cooper after returning from sensitivity training. “It took a few days. It’s been a tough run,”
Cooper was asked when and how he knew he was ready to return to action. “I talked to Chip (Kelly) last night and this morning, and he asked me, ‘how do you feel, are you ready to come back?’ I said, ‘absolutely. I love being out there on the field, I love being out there with the guys.’ ”
Cooper talked about this controversy being something that’s not going to disappear any time soon.
“I’m going to live with this every day for the rest of my life,” Cooper said. “It’s brutal, but that’s reality, and it’s going to be with me every day. I’m going to think about it every day. I know I will.”
A number of the leaders on the team made it a point to address Cooper’s return to the practice after the workout with the Patriots.
“We’ve talked, we’ve had dialogue, we’ve accepted his apology”, Jason Avant said. “The only thing you can do is apologize. What else can he do? When a situation happens like that, there’s not too many things that you can do but apologize and be sincere about it. You guys gotta get over it, alright?”
“We don’t talk about it. It’s just negative energy”, DeSean Jackson said when asked about whether the team is still talking about the Cooper video. “We don’t talk about negative energy. We’re all on positive stuff and just moving forward and just trying to get better as a team.”
“With our team, I feel like we’re fine with Riley coming back today”, DeMeco Ryans said. “We feel like we’re past that and we’re moving forward as a team together. There’s no division among our team. We’re moving forward together as a team and working towards our goal of being a really good team this year.”
The Birds wide receiver had apologized to the team before leaving for the sensitivity training, then he did it again before returning to the field this morning. You could tell that Cooper was emotionally exhausted from the entire controversy, which has been dominating the local sports news for days.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, to talk to my boys and talk to my teammates and tell them what I did and how I let them down,” Cooper said. “It’s the most emotional thing I’ve ever been through.”
The four-year wide receiver wants to carry the weight of proving his comments weren’t a true reflection of who he is. He vows to let the way he lives show what kind of person he really is.
“I told them, ‘I don’t want you to forgive me because that puts the burden on you. I want it all on me,’” he said. “I told them that, and I told them I apologize, and they could tell it’s from the heart.
“They know I’m not that type of person. It feels good to have support from the guys.”
I think Riley Cooper jerseys are now the organizations highest sellers within the last week.
You can be sure that Bill Belichek would have some interest in Cooper if the Eagles have a problem with him.
Fine. His heartfelt apology and regret is duly noted, Now shut up and lets see what you can do on the field. lol