Tight end Chris Cooley is disappointed; he’s also upbeat. He’ll miss at least a month after surgery to repair his fractured left index finger. But he knows it could be worse.
“It’s always frustrating to miss time,” he said. “But I’m more optimistic missing time this season because I know I’m not out for the season.”
Cooley still isn’t sure how much time he’ll miss, saying, “people heal bones from three to six to seven weeks so I guess figure that time.”
Two years ago a broken ankle sidelined him for the season, an experience he called surreal. But Cooley said the time off can help him, at least when it comes to one of his other issues: his knee. He’ll see Dr. James Andrews before Sunday’s game at Carolina, but Cooley said the visit is “nothing out of the ordinary.” Andrews attends each game.
Cooley said his knee joint is irritated so the month of rest will help calm it down.
“It will be very good for me,” he said. “I can get myself ready to play at a higher level than I was playing over the first five or six weeks. In the role I was in, I was fine. I felt like I was helping this team. But I can get myself ready to play at a high enough level that if we make a playoff run I can be very effective as a threat.”
For now, he’ll study film, learn the offense better and help the other tight ends. And he’ll also be watching, like everyone else, to see how John Beck plays at quarterback.
“It gives a team a spark if John plays well,” Cooley said. “I don’t think it changes what we’re doing offensively and I don’t think it changes the way anyone else is going to play this week. Guys are in the same role, this is the same offense. We’re just looking for a guy to play better.
“That’s a bad way to say it because I just crushed Rex [Grossman]. But they wouldn’t make the switch if it wasn’t fact.”
Cooley broke his finger in the first quarter when Philadelphia’s Nnamdi Asomugha tackled him in the flat after catching a swing pass from Grossman. Fox analyst Brian Billick ripped Grossman for putting his receiver in a vulnerable spot, with Asomugha lurking in front of him.
But Cooley said they expected Asomugha to chase Jabar Gaffney, running a shallow cross from the left slot. And they anticipated a linebacker running with Cooley. Instead, the linebacker dropped elsewhere and Asomugha ran at him.
“I’m not mad at Rex, I’ll take that hit all day to make a catch,” he said. “My hand got trapped in there weird and I broke my finger.”
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