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There is a lot of confusion with Amari Cooper, his heel, and what to make of it all.
Since the Cowboys were in Oxnard we’ve heard about how Cooper has been dealing with a heel injury. This is part of why we haven’t seen him throughout the preseason (the other part being that it’s preseason) but in the meantime all we’ve done is grow more confused with the state of his heel.
In an effort to understand where we are and where we’ve come from let’s look at the timeline of it all.
August 3rd, 2019: Heel bruise
Almost three weeks ago Amari Cooper left practice out in Oxnard with what was being referred to as a heel bruise. That didn’t seem like too big of a deal at the time (it still doesn’t to some).
Amari Cooper left practice right after the stretch period with a heel bruise. Didn’t look like a huge deal, he didn’t need any assistance or anything like that. But he’s not out here right now #cowboyswire
— David Helman (@HelmanDC) August 3, 2019
August 13th, 2019: “More of a ligament thing”
10 days later the mothership’s Mickey Spagnola appeared on 105.3 The Fan and added a bit of clarification to Cooper’s injury. He noted that it was “more of a ligament thing” than a heel bruise which left us all scratching our heads.
#Cowboys insider Mickey Spagnola - @spags52 tells @1053SS and I on @1053thefan that the Amari Cooper heel injury is “more of a ligament thing” than a bruise.
— Roy White III (@RDubThree) August 13, 2019
That’s concerning.
August 20th, 2019: “A form of plantar fasciitis”
One week later Cooper added some context to all of this when he acknowledged that the injury is in fact “a form of plantar fasciitis” which immediately makes a lot of Cowboys fans think of Terence Newman.
The injury was first reported as a bruised heel which seem likely to clear up in a week or two at most. Since then, it’s been termed a ligament injury and then the more specific plantar fasciitis.
August 22nd, 2019: “Intrinsic muscle strain”
On Thursday, the mothership’s Mickey Spagnola was once again on 105.3 The Fan and gave us another about face. Apparently this is an intrinsic muscle strain and not plantar fasciitis. What?
.@Spags52 tells us it's an "Intrinsic muscle strain," NOT plantar fasciitis for Amari Cooper @1053thefan.
— Shan Shariff (@1053SS) August 22, 2019
Don't ask me to explain the difference
Perhaps the reason it’s taken this long for Cooper to return to the practice field is so that the Cowboys can properly figure out just what the problem is. Maybe that’s optimistic, maybe that’s actually the case.
The regular season is just about two weeks away. Whatever is necessary for Cooper to properly heal up needs to be done, let’s just hope the team has finally figured out exactly how to fix the issue.