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Eagles' Cooper says he's pressing

Riley Cooper is haunted by the TD catch he didn't make, but not by DeSean Jackson, he says.

Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

RILEY COOPER agrees with you. He should have caught that touchdown pass down the left sideline early in Monday night's win over the Colts. Cooper, closely covered, tried to leap for the ball, though it was headed for his hands, and he juggled and dropped it.

"Yes. For sure. The ball was placed perfectly, right where it needed to be," Cooper said yesterday, as the Eagles prepared for a visit from a certain former Eagles receiver and his Washington teammates. "I don't know why I went up and tried to catch it like I did. I don't know what the hell I was thinking, but, yeah, you need to catch that 10 out of 10 times. That's an easy play to make.

"I've been thinking about it for the last 2 days. I can't believe I dropped it. I don't know why I dropped it. I think I just need to go up and high-point the ball. Just do what I do. Catch the ball. Don't try to do anything special. I think I'm kind of pushing a little bit, to be honest with you."

Cooper has been targeted 10 times through two games, has five catches, for 37 yards. Some people thought when the Eagles parted with that aforementioned Redskin, DeSean Jackson, that Cooper would continue to build on his breakthrough 2013 season (47 catches for an impressive 835 yards), would be a big part of making up for the loss of Jackson's 82 catches for 1,332 yards. So far, that hasn't happened. Are those expectations part of the "pushing" Cooper mentioned?

"When I'm playing in a game, the last thing I'm thinking about is DeSean Jackson," Cooper said. "When the ball's in the air and I'm trying to catch it, I'm not thinking about DeSean. I don't think that has anything to do with it."

Chip Kelly recalled Tuesday that Cooper's early-season production was a topic a year ago, (he had four catches for 39 yards through two games) though that was before the quarterback switch from Michael Vick to Nick Foles that seemed to boost Cooper down the stretch.

"It's a long year," Cooper said. "For me, that's how it always goes. Everybody's always questioning this and questioning that . . . We've only played two games. I think through [five] games last year, I only had eight catches . . . You just stay doing what you're doing. We're running similar stuff. Just keep playing hard, and, I'm telling you, the game will take care of you."

The team's top three wideouts - Cooper, Jeremy Maclin and rookie Jordan Matthews - so far have been targeted 39 times and have caught 16 passes. Foles has missed more than a handful of throws, but we are still waiting for the season's first difficult, memorable catch from an Eagles wide receiver.

"We all just need to all get on the same page," Cooper said.

Maclin also took responsibility, telling reporters, "It's my job to get that fixed."

"We'll continue to work on it, man. We're still No. 1 in the league in offense. When we get that part fixed, it can be something special," Maclin said.

Auld Lang Syne

DeSean Jackson missed yesterday's Washington practice with the AC joint sprain he suffered Sunday in a rout of Jacksonville. Riley Cooper said he wants to see Jackson on the field at the Linc this week. Jackson told reporters in Washington yesterday, "I don't plan on missing this game."

"He's going to be pumped," Cooper said. "I hope he's healthy. I hope he feels good; I really do. I hope he can come in here and play . . . I'm excited to see him play."

"It's going to be strange," Jeremy Maclin said. "We played together for 5 years . . . But the one thing we've got to understand is that it's the Eagles vs. the Redskins, not DeSean vs. Jeremy, or anything else."

Defensive coordinator Bill Davis said his cornerbacks will have the advantage of having logged many practice duels with Jackson, but Cary Williams cautioned that Jackson plays at a higher speed than he practices. Brandon Boykin agreed.

"Everybody sees that. Everybody knows that," Boykin said. "Then, he's coming back to Philly. So it'll be, like, times two."

Celebrating Sproles

Darren Sproles was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after catching seven passes for 152 yards and running four times for 26 yards and a touchdown against the Colts. Sproles has been special-teams player of the week before, but this is the first such offensive honor in his 10-year NFL career.

Birdseed

Rookie wideout Josh Huff was a partial practice participant yesterday, for the first time since he suffered a shoulder injury Aug. 15 at New England . . . Guard Matt Tobin practiced fully, for the first time since suffering a high ankle sprain Aug. 28 against the Jets. Tobin, whose left ankle was heavily taped, said he worked with backups as a left tackle. Had Tobin not gotten hurt, he probably would have been ahead of Dennis Kelly or Andrew Gardner among o-line subs. Though they will start against Washington, it wouldn't be a shock to see Tobin emerge as a starter at some point. Lane Johnson has 2 more suspension weeks to serve, and Evan Mathis and his healing MCL can't return before Nov. 10 against Carolina.

Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian