Cooper doesn’t hide his thinking with Cowboys rolling
ARLINGTON, Texas — Amari Cooper rejected the suggestion that Dallas’ 44-20 win over New York was even more impressive because of a sloppy start that kept the last-place Giants in the game longer than they should have been.
The receiver’s reaction illustrates where the Cowboys think they can go after four consecutive victories coming off a last-second loss to Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay in the opener.
“We don’t need to have those mistakes,” said Cooper, who had a 24-yard touchdown catch. “It’s about us and our standard, who we’re trying to be, where we’re trying to go.”
Cooper isn’t denying where that is with Dallas (4-1) already leading the NFC East by two games going into Sunday’s trip to New England. Never mind that it’s a place the Cowboys haven’t been since the 1995 season.
“When you’re on a roll like this, you start thinking about a Super Bowl. That’s just the reality of it,” Cooper said. “You start to want it more and more the closer you get, and you start to worry about the little things more.”
The mistakes were two first-quarter turnovers by quarterback Dak Prescott, the first an interception that stopped the opening drive and the second a botched snap and fumble when Dallas was on the New York 5-yard line.
Prescott bounced back with 302 yards passing and three touchdowns against the same opponent in the same stadium on the same weekend as the season-ending compound fracture of his right ankle last year. Prescott can finally say the injury is behind him for good.
“I hugged (athletic trainer) Britt Brown there at the end and said I know what this meant,” Prescott said. “I told him thank you and I’m glad it’s behind us. I think this was the final shovel in burying this thing.”