Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper had his worst game of the season in Week Eight against the Eagles, catching just one pass for five yards. Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham is taking some of the credit for that.
As a defensive end, Graham doesn’t cover Cooper, but he says he knows how to get under Cooper’s skin and did so effectively in that game.
“I knew the rap sheet on him. His body language is bad, so when you see his body language [worsen] I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m about to get him.’ So I started talking to him,” Graham told ESPN. “He was gone. He’s like, man, I can’t wait until Dak Prescott gets back. That’s the type of face he had.”
Graham said that comments like “might as well hang up the cleats” and “get ready for next week” were bothering Cooper as the Cowboys’ offense failed to move the ball. That probably was not the main reason Cooper struggled -- a much bigger problem was that Cowboys quarterback Ben DiNucci was making the first and possibly last start of his career -- but Graham thinks that a little trash talk helps.