Cooper hopes to stick with 49ers
HOUSTON — In his fiveyear NFL career, 49ers right guard Jonathan Cooper has been benched, traded, released and injured. Oh, has he ever been injured. His injuries help explain why despite being the No. 7 pick out of North Carolina in the 2013 draft — Cooper was the highest drafted guard in 27 years — he’s been with five teams in the past 29 months. And they also explain why he needed little prompting to make his health the dominant topic of a recent interview.
What was the highlight of his productive 2017 season with the Cowboys? “I think first and foremost,” Cooper said, “being able to stay healthy for the majority of the season.”
What are his goals for the remainder of his career? “Well, staying healthy would be one of them,” he said, smiling. “Let’s start there.”
And when it was noted he is only 28, Cooper seemed to re-
flect on his bulging medical file before saying: “I’m young, but us athletes age in dog years.”
On Saturday, Cooper, the most intriguing player at the 49ers’ most unsettled position, will make his debut with his new team when the 49ers visit the Texans at NRG Stadium for their second preseason game.
The right guard spot is the 49ers’ only open position battle and the competition didn’t truly begin until this week when the top two candidates, Cooper and Joshua Garnett, practiced together for the first time in training camp.
Garnett returned Sunday after missing two weeks with a knee injury. And Cooper, who has been eased back after undergoing offseason knee surgery, took another step in his recovery by practicing fully in two joint practices with the Texans. Cooper and Garnett are also competing with Mike Person, who started the preseason opener and received the majority of first-team practice reps while they were sidelined.
“I think he’s finally starting to get healthy,” left tackle Joe Staley said of Cooper. “I feel like he’s starting to get more confidence; he’s starting to get more reps (and) you see him getting more excited. I’m excited to see what he can do Saturday.”
Cooper hopes this preseason game will be the next step in salvaging his oft-interrupted career.
His trials and tribulations include:
In 2013, in his third exhibition game with the Cardinals, Cooper’s rookie season ended when a Chargers defender crashed into the back of his left leg while he was blocking downfield and fractured his fibula.
He returned in 2014, but was slowed by a turf toe and knee injury in training camp and didn’t earn his first start until Week 14. In his second career start, he sustained a seasonending wrist injury.
He started nine games in 2015, but he was also benched during the season. He then received a fresh start in March 2016 when Arizona dealt him and a second-round pick to New England for defensive end Chandler Jones.
He then suffered a foot injury on the third day of training camp in 2016 and never played in New England before he was released five games into the regular season. The final indignity that year came when, after he was signed by the Browns, his two-month stint ended when Cleveland released him on Christmas Eve, just before finishing a 1-15 season.
“My lowest moments came when I was bouncing around quite a bit,” Cooper said. “That was so difficult and I finally got to the point of saying ‘Whatever is going to be is going to be.’”
In 2017, Cooper signed with Dallas and emerged from his career nadir. He was promoted to first-string early in the season, made 13 starts and became an integral part of an offense that ranked second in the NFL in rushing yards per game, third in yards per carry and allowed the 10th fewest sacks.
“I eventually started to improve and, after awhile, I felt like I was the player that I always knew I could be,” Cooper said.
But a predictable thing happened just before his season ended: In the second quarter of the regular-season finale at Philadelphia, with 58 seconds left before halftime, a defender was blocked into his knee.
Before he had surgery in January to repair his medical collateral ligament, Cooper agonized as he was assisted to the sideline at Lincoln Financial Field.
“That was one of the more frustrating things I’ve ever dealt with,” Cooper said. “I was just thinking ‘I needed 30 more minutes.’ Just make it through one more half, and then I’d make it through the season.”
Cooper’s candor is noteworthy. He admits he felt he disappointed the Cardinals and was burdened by not meeting their expectations. And he says he realizes he’s too far along in his career for teams to care that he’s a former No. 7 pick: “It’s like my dad says, ‘Being drafted in the top 10, with that and $1.50, I can buy an in ice cold Coca-Cola.’”
And Cooper even concedes he’s developed more than tough skin during his painful NFL journey. His best season, he says, was partly due to a grittier mind-set.
“I don’t know if I just had a toughness about me last year,” Cooper said. “There was some stuff might have slowed me down or kept me out even, possibly, (in the past), that I played with.”
Cooper now plays with more modest career goals. The onceheralded prospect doesn’t discuss Pro Bowls or the Hall of Fame when he looks to the future.
Instead, he wants to play well and, in regards to his health, stay well.
“I want to be a key component on my team for the rest of my time,” Cooper said. “I just want to become a fixture and become reliable: Someone they know is going to be durable and will be consistently playing at a high level.” Injury report: General manager John Lynch said on KNBR that running back Jerick McKinnon (calf strain) won’t play until the season opener at Minnesota on Sept. 9. … The 49ers placed undrafted rookie safety Terrell Williams (knee) on injured reserve and resigned safety Dexter McCoil.