Jonathan Cooper Injury Not Helping Patriots Image
By Erik Lambert
The New England Patriots always get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their making questionable roster decisions because it tends to work out.
That was the case when they stuck with Tom Brady over Drew Bledsoe. It was the case when they traded Richard Seymour and when they cut Logan Mankins. They make decisions with the basis of what is good for the team, even if that decision might be unpopular at the time. That is how much they trust Bill Belichick and the system they’ve put in to see the process through.
Similar thinking emerged when the Patriots once again made such a decision when they traded top pass rusher Chandler Jones to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for former 1st round pick Jonathan Cooper and a 2nd round pick in the 2016 draft. It felt like an unnecessary move at the time, sacrificing a productive player who is in his prime for a failed high draft choice and a Day 2 pick that brings few guarantees.
It certainly didn’t help the Patriots’ case when Cooper went down at the start of training camp either.
Here at Pats practice, G Jonathan Cooper carted off just now with apparent leg injury.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 30, 2016
#Patriots OL Jonathan Cooper, who was carted off today, is battling a plantar fascia issue, sources say. Not structural with his ankle.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 30, 2016
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Even thought the injury is not season-ending, it’s not a welcome sign for the future. Hopes were high that Belichick and his staff could breath some life into Cooper, one of the highest drafted guards in NFL history. To now know he suffers from a condition that can be recurring over time really puts a ceiling on how good he can be. To say nothing of the fact that this doesn’t help an already big problem with their offensive line.
If that’s the case, it means the only way the New England Patriots come out on the losing end of trading Jones is if he falls flat in Arizona or they get a great return out of Joe Thuney and Malcolm Mitchell, the two players they ended up with after dealing the 2nd round pick received from the Cardinals. It’s not like the team hasn’t made mistakes before, but being on the losing side of such a big trade is not something that happens to the Patriots.
Hopefully Cooper may yet be able to rescue that from happening.