'Amari Christmas Wish': That Garrett's Cowboys Could Tell The Truth About Cooper's 'Tired Rotational Benching'

FRISCO - The 2019 Dallas Cowboys are likely to be remembered more for their deceptive eloquence at the podium than for their determined excellence on the field, the latest example being the club’s semantic dance regarding the Philadelphia disappearing act of Amari Cooper, the Pro Bowl receiver who was "tired'' ... er, "rotated'' ... er, "benched.''

“Sometimes in those two-minute situations, you know, they run a lot of plays in a row,” coach Jason Garrett told 105.3 The Fan, flailing away in an attempt to explain why, in Week 16's critical 17-9 loss at the Eagles, Cooper wasn't in the lineup for the last-gasp fourth-and-8 play. “So the other guys were out there.”

"They run a lot of plays in a row''? Meaning Cooper was gassed?

That's the initial claim made by Cowboys staffers as of Sunday night in Philly, as Cooper had run a deep route on the play before. (Maybe the bus fumes were in their heads.) But Cooper himself insists he was not "tired.''

So what about being "rotated in and out,'' a rather absurd notion from a team that insists Cooper is a foundational player, this franchise's version of Julio Jones and Michael Thomas (who do not come out of the game when they're needed most)?

“He wasn’t (injured),” Garrett said, and that part is true. Multiple people - including Cooper himself - tell me that his health is fine.

“We were rotating Tavon (Austin) in there,'' Garrett continued. "We had a couple good opportunities with Tavon. Unfortunately we weren’t able to cash in on them.”

So wait ... It was "Tavon's turn''? Just like, somehow, a bit early, it was the "turn'' of Ventell Bryant, who took two crunch-time snaps in this game despite essentially being a practice-squadder elevated to the roster with hope he could help on special teams?

In fact, Cooper only got the third-most snaps of the receivers in this NFC East "title game,'' his 46 dropping him behind Michael Gallup (56) and Randall Cobb (48).

Oh, yeah. Cobb wasn't on the field on fourth-and-8, either. Garrett, firing yet another arrow in another direction of explanation, claimed that the Cowboys purposely created a personnel group and a play-call that would require tight ends Jason Witten and Blake Jarwin to be the downfield threats in place of Cobb and Cooper.

“In terms of the personnel group to have that be a 12-personnel play, that would be Kellen’s decision,” Garrett said "That’s a play that we liked in that situation for the variety of coverages that they were going to play. We felt like we had good answers with that.''

So ...

1) The Cowboys offensive braintrust actually envisioned Jason Witten being more able to get open downfield than either Cobb or Cooper, and

2) It was actually the fault of rookie coordinator Kellen Moore?

Garrett continued: “In regards to the receiver rotation, Sanjay Lal and... it’s just the communication during those on-the-ball drives. Sometimes those guys work the rotation different ways based on the routes they run and plays they’ve run and all of that.”

Wait. It wasn't "Kellen's decision.'' It was ...

3) tThe decision of receivers coach Lal? So it's all Sanjay's fault?!

The fact is, the Cowboys coaching staff was displeased with Amari Cooper's performance, and collectively grasped for straws in a desperate search for answers. (In other words, "We have met the enemy, and he is us.'') But in no football world should Amari Cooper - even while appearing to pout on the losing sideline - be watching while Witten and Jarwin run "his'' routes.

"Rotating out'' a player of Cooper's caliber is tantamount to "benching'' him. It's the same thing. Everybody was a little tired and everybody was a little hurt and maybe it should've been up to Cooper himself to go a little "alpha,'' to demand that Lal or Moore or Garrett or whoever the hell is in charge of this offense allow his butt back in the game.

"I know I didn't play my best game at all; It was terrible,'' said Cooper, who caught just four passes for 24 yards, continuing a slump that raises questions about the free-agent-to-be's contractual future in Dallas. "Obviously, you want to be out there trying to make a play for the team."

Unfortunately, on Sunday, Cooper had shown little ability to make plays, causing the coaching staff to lose faith in the thought he'd ever do so. So a "rotation'' is a "benching,'' and "tired'' is no reason and the only things that are "hurt'' right now are Dallas' playoff chances, Garrett's credibility and Amari Cooper's feelings.