'Bad Juju' Behind Him, Malik Hooker on Cowboys vs. Colts: 'Looking Forward It!'
Sunday night will create an odd feeling for Dallas Cowboys safety Malik Hooker as he faces his former team, the 4-7-1 Indianapolis Colts. Drafted by the Colts in the 2017 NFL Draft, Hooker spent four years in Indianapolis before shifting to Dallas in 2021.
Now a key piece on Dan Quinn's unit, Hooker has played all but one game for the 8-3 Cowboys and has an interception to his name. Sunday night will not just be any game for the 26-year-old, but his focus remains the same.
"Obviously, I'm gonna come across a lot of the guys that I played with and a lot of the coaches that I was there with, but I'm looking forward to it," Hooker said. "It's a crucial part of the season right now. ... December is when a lot of the best ball gets played so I'm looking forward to taking our best foot forward the second half of the season."
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy knows what Hooker is going through this week as he made the trip to Green Bay for the first time since his sacking in Week 9.
“I think for Malik, or any of us to go through that, I think it's something that you acknowledge early in the week,” McCarthy said. “Obviously it's been quite some time since he was there, I think this is a normal process a lot of us go through.”
The safety had a fruitful spell with the Colts before injuries halted his progress to just two games in 2020 before the Cowboys came calling. For some, with the sheer number of injuries that Hooker has had which includes an Achilles tear, a torn meniscus, and a torn ACL/MCL, Hooker could have easily called it quits on his NFL dream.
But the safety is as mentally strong as they come.
"That list of injuries, a lot of the guys, they don't come back from that," Hooker said. "I look at it as I don't have anything else can be harmed in that way. I've done all my bad karma, or whatever you want to call it – my bad juju. I got it all out so now I just go out there with a clean mind and a clean heart."
With the injuries seemingly behind him, Hooker has been one of the mainstays for the 8-3 Cowboys and one of the best defenses in the NFL and will get a chance to heap more misery on his former team on Sunday night.
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