Darius Cooper is doing more than just surviving Eagles training camp. He’s making a case.
The second-year receiver has been one of the early standouts in Philadelphia, flashing the same kind of burst and ball skills that helped him put together a productive rookie year after arriving as an undrafted player out of Tarleton State. With DeVonta Smith and first-round pick Makai Lemon sidelined by hamstring issues, the door has opened for extra first-team work, and Cooper has taken full advantage.
Monday at the Jefferson Health Training Complex was another loud reminder. Cooper hauled in multiple passes and repeatedly stressed cornerback Riq Woolen, creating clean separation on a sharp out route and then shaking free again on a stop-and-go down the seam. It was the kind of session that turns a practice rep into a talking point.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts appears to be buying in, too. Cooper, 24, has become one of the receivers Hurts looks for when a play breaks down and the pocket starts to extend.
What stands out is how many different ways Cooper is finding space to make an impact. He’s working the intermediate areas, winning on the sideline, hauling in contested catches and showing up in Nick Sirianni’s situational work. That versatility has already sparked some chatter about a larger role, even after Smith and Lemon return.
That would be jumping ahead of the plan. Philadelphia’s WR picture still points to Smith, Dontayvion Wicks, Lemon and Hollywood Brown as the main pieces.
But Cooper may have done enough to move himself from bubble territory to someone the Eagles can’t really afford to let go. And if injuries hit, he’s positioned to be next in line.
That’s the sort of rise undrafted players have to force. Cooper is doing it with production and confidence, not reputation. His final season at Tarleton State was no fluke: 76 catches, 1,450 yards and 14 touchdowns, along with first-team FCS All-America honors after ranking near the top of Division I in receiving yards.
Woolen saw that up close Monday and came away convinced.
“Coop is a great receiver,” Woolen said after practice. “I felt like just that whole room, they feed off each other. And he continues to grow.
“When I got here in OTAs till now, every rep I’ve gone against him, there’s no shortage of hard work. He always 100%.
Whenever you go against him, you know you’re going to get a great look. Coop is a great receiver.
So to be able to go against him and battle with him, and see him grow throughout training camp, is a lot of fun.”
Sirianni knows the challenge for a player like Cooper is breaking through the labels that tend to stick to undrafted guys. At the same time, he made clear that roles in this offense are not locked in stone.
“Roles don't have to stay the same,” Sirianni said. “There's different reasons of why guys switch out of roles, but we're going to need every role filled that we need to play offense, play defense, play special teams, leadership, and everything like that.
“Just because you're the dirty work guy (something Cooper was previously labeled with) doesn't necessarily mean that the ball can't come to you on third down or whatever it may be. That kind of plays itself out as the training camp progresses. We'll talk through that as a team at some particular point in training camp.”
For now, Cooper has already done the important part: he has gotten noticed. The rest of camp and the preseason will determine whether that attention turns into something bigger.
“You graduate by trust and by consistently doing what you're supposed to do and say, 'Man, okay, we look at him as this dirty-work guy, but man, he's had opportunities in training camp to win on third down, and he has done that. Let's give him those opportunities,'” Sirianni said.
“Everything that we do is built on trust and you get that through practice, you get that through meeting films, you get that through walkthroughs that you consistently do. I keep saying that word -- consistently do what you're supposed to do.”
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