SCOOP: Cowboys Amari Cooper has ‘plantar fascia irritation’; ‘He’ll be fine’
Dallas Cowboys star Amari Cooper has missed a week of training camp due to what the team has officially defined as a “heel bruise.” A source tells me, however, that the Pro Bowl receiver is actually suffering from “plantar fascia irritation” - while also noting, “He’ll be fine.”
“Plantar fasciitis” has a scary ring to it. This, I’m told, is a “very small muscle strain” of the plantar fascia, which is the a ligamentous connective tissue that runs from the heel bone to the ball of the foot. There are different levels of potential injury there, all the way up to a tear.
Aa I reported on 105.3 The Fan this morning I’m breaking the story, told Cooper’s case is not that, but rather simply “irritation” or “inflammation.” Cooper missed most of last week’s workouts in Oxnard last week and sat out the preseason-opening loss at the Niners, the team opting to not have him travel last weekend. The Cowboys play the Rams are in Honolulu this weekend and caution will once again be in play, though team officials tell me this is a “short-term” ailment.
Said coach Jason Garrett: “We don’t think this is a long-term thing. But we just want to be deliberate in bringing him back.”
“Bottom line,” one source tells me, “ is he’ll be fine.”
Cooper, 25, played in nine games with Dallas last year after being acquired in trade from Oakland and caught 53 passes for 725 yards and six touchdowns. Over the course of the season overall, he registered 75 receptions for 1,005 yards and seven scores en route to a third Pro Bowl appearance.
Cooper is also engaged in contract extension talks with Dallas as he’s in the final year of a rookie deal that pays him $13.9 million in 2019.
