Aaron Glenn and the Jets keep sending the same message about Omar Cooper Jr.: the rookie receiver is not yet a major part of the plan.
That could mean there’s a bigger role waiting for him when the real games start. Or it could mean Cooper is headed toward Week 1 as more of a depth option than a featured piece. Right now, there doesn’t seem to be much room in the middle.
Through the first two preseason games, the No. 30 pick has been almost invisible. He has just three catches for 40 yards, and in Friday’s win over the Steelers he saw only one target, which turned into a 9-yard gain. For a player the Jets traded up to select, that’s a pretty quiet start - especially after a training camp and preseason that haven’t produced much buzz either.
The bigger question now is how Cooper fits into Frank Reich’s offense once the regular season begins in three weeks. The receiver picture already includes Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell, but the competition around Cooper is becoming harder to ignore.
Isaiah Williams, for one, is making his case. After going without a target against the Buccaneers last Friday, he bounced back against the Steelers with three catches for 17 yards.
Jets quarterbacks looked his way five times, and he finished second on the team in receptions behind Quincy Skinner Jr. All signs point to Williams, who spent the offseason training with Olympic sprinters, getting steady first-team work.
That’s part of what makes Cooper’s preseason so notable. He hasn’t separated himself the way Williams has, and he hasn’t made the kind of impression Jelani Woods has in recent weeks either. Before he’s played a meaningful snap, he’s already drifting into that familiar category of first-round rookie who somehow disappears from the conversation.
None of that should come as a shock if you’ve followed the last month closely. Standing out in OTAs and preseason can be misleading, and Victor Cruz is the rare exception when it comes to turning that kind of momentum into something bigger - and even he was undrafted out of UMass.
Cooper is in a different spot entirely. He was a first-round pick, and the Jets moved up for him even after taking Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq at No.
There’s no indication Cooper is hurt. By the team’s account, he has been completely healthy since the draft in April. Sadiq, meanwhile, remains sidelined while recovering from a sports hernia, and it is still unclear whether he’ll be available for Week 1 against the Titans.
Maybe the lack of preseason targets won’t end up mattering. But with a new quarterback and a new offensive system, it’s fair to wonder whether Reich and Glenn would want Cooper getting as many meaningful reps as possible before the games count. That’s the whole point of this stretch, after all.
The Jets haven’t said how long the starters will play in next weekend’s preseason finale. If Cooper is going to push his way into the rotation, that figures to be his last real shot. At the moment, though, even two targets might be asking a lot.
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