Dallas Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper had two catches for 41 yards in his return to action after a two-game absence due to a case of COVID-19.
Cooper was unvaccinated and was required to miss 10 days, which ruled him out for both of the team’s previous two games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders.
Cooper told reporters after the game that the last two weeks had a been a bit rough for him and he believed he could have played if not for the league’s protocols.
“It was tough. [Michael] Jordan played with the flu. That’s how I looked at it,” Cooper said in quotes distributed by the Cowboys. “It was a restriction of not being able to play with what I had. It was tough, knowing that I could physically gone out there and played, but the restrictions didn’t allow me to do so.”
Considering Cooper was still “not feeling the best” earlier this week, his confidence in being able to play had the protocols had not been in place may have been rather optimistic.
Cooper was on a pitch count against the New Orleans Saints as he gets back into the flow of work after his absence.
“I knew I had between 20-25 plays, they told me before the game,” Cooper said. “They just wanted to ease me back into things, knowing I didn’t really practice, and knowing how COVID could affect the lungs and heart. They didn’t really know my conditioning. I didn’t really know my conditioning. I think that was the plan.”
Cooper will now get an additional 10 days before Dallas faces the Washington Football Team to further recover from his illness.