Tight end’s shutdown was to ensure future It hurt to run 10 yards. He had his knee drained 15 times this season, and microfracture surgery loomed down the road if he continued playing. So in the end, it wasn’t difficult for Chris Cooley to reach a conclusion: He couldn’t play anymore this season.
But beyond 2011? Cooley says that’s a no-brainer as well.
– John Keim
| Notes |
| » Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said he wasn’t bothered by coach Mike Shanahan saying Monday that he needed to help the defense to be better prepared. Shanahan said, “I have to make sure I put them in situations more times than not to make sure they feel very comfortable in every look they see.” Haslett said, “Obviously he’s a great offensive mind, and he knows how to defend these types of things. It’s good to have a guy you can go in and talk to and say, ‘How do you think this should be played.’ That’s what I do with him a lot.” |
| » Cornerback DeAngelo Hall did not practice for a second consecutive day because of a hip injury that flared up Tuesday. Fullback Mike Sellers injured his back lifting weights before practice and had to go to a local hospital, where Shanahan said he would stay overnight. Linebacker London Fletcher (hamstring), quarterback Rex Grossman (illness), cornerback Phillip Buchanon (neck) and free safety Oshiomogho Atogwe (knee) were limited. |
“I’m not at the point where I wonder if I’m going to be back,” said Cooley, who has two years left on his contract. “Every part of me absolutely believes not only will I continue to play for the Washington Redskins, but I’ll continue to be an outstanding player at the position. … [General manager Bruce Allen] and [coach Mike Shanahan] believe in me, and I have no doubt I’ll play well for us in the future and not next year but for a continued number of years.”
Offensive coordinator Kyle Shan?ahan said, “I envision him having the same role. Cooley has a great future here. You need two tight ends.”
But he also said he doesn’t know how much he would have been able to help this season. He already was going to miss at least a month with a broken finger. Cooley, 29, had hoped this time off would help reduce the inflammation in his left knee, on which he had arthroscopic surgery in January.
However, after meeting with team orthopedist James Andrews on Sunday and again at his facility in Pensacola, Fla., for more tests Monday, Cooley knew his knee needed more than just a month’s rest.
One fear was that if he continued playing, he eventually would need microfracture surgery. If that happened, Cooley said he would not play next season and Andrews told him there would be a “50-50” chance his career would be over.
And consider this: His knee joint was inflamed and constantly swelling. He also had tendinitis.
“I had a lot of lateral pain, which was strange,” he said. “It hurt to run 10 yards. I could admit it to myself and my coaches, but I wouldn’t say it to anybody else. But at the point I hit 10 yards, I wasn’t fast. I wasn’t quick in and out of cuts.”
Cooley said he’s 100 percent convinced he’s a victim of the lockout. When he felt discomfort in the spring, Cooley said his mindset was to work harder. The Redskins considered putting him on the physically unable to perform list before training camp opened.
“We should have went in that direction,” Mike Shanahan said. “But … he indicated to us he’d be ready to go.”
But they’re confident he’ll be ready next season.
Cooley is the Redskins’ all-time leading pass catcher at tight end with 428 receptions. He said he never wants to play for another team. He remembered watching New Orleans play in the Super Bowl two years ago and thinking about what that would feel like.
“I watched those guys run out and thought nothing would compare to that,” he said. “Nothing would beat the feeling of running onto the field to play the Super Bowl and being part of a team that won the Super Bowl. But I’ve been here so long, and this has been such an important part of my life. I don’t want to run through the tunnel in another uniform. This will be the only team I care about the rest of my life, and I want to do it with this team.”
