Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper has become the first WR to hit the 1000-yard in two consecutive seasons. He also had 11 catches for 265 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s 36-22 win over the Houston Texans.
He broke the Browns’ single-game receiving yards record, passing Josh Gordon’s previous mark of 261 from 2013. He also recorded a new career-high for himself with his fourth game of 200-plus yards.
Cooper (Raiders Cowboys, and Browns) has joined Hall of Famer Terrell Owens as the only players in NFL history to have a 200-plus receiving-yard game with three different franchises.
“Yeah, I mean every time I step on the field, I try to put forth my best effort, I do truly feel like I’m unguardable,” Cooper said in a post-game interview with NFL Network’s Stacey Dales. “You know it’s all about opportunities, and I had a lot of opportunities today, so I was able to take advantage of them.”
“He’s a consummate pro. He’s one of the best I’ve ever been around,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said in his post-game conference.
“What he knows about this game. The way he sees in this game. He’s like a savant out there, and combine that with the route running ability. He’s one of this team’s leaders. These guys love Amari, and the same come-through is awesome.”
Cooper had four catches for 148 yards and two TDs on targets with less than a 33% completion probability on Sunday, the most such yards in a game in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016).
“Man, I’ve only been receiving passes from Joe for a short period of time, but one thing I learned quickly is he has amazing arm strength. So sometimes when it looks like he’s down, if he sees you, he’s going to get it out, so I just stayed alive,” Cooper said to Dales of the fourth-down play.