Amari Cooper just needs to relax and play

Nov 22, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper (89) carries the ball as Detroit Lions cornerback Quandre Diggs (28) defends at Ford Field. The Lions won 18-13. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Oakland Raiders receiver Amari Cooper had just one catch on four targets on Sunday against the Detroit Lions. He obviously wasn’t taken No. 4 overall by the Raiders back in May to have games like that. The Raiders took him to be an immediate impact and up to Sunday he was just that.

So what’s the problem?

Some like to give credit to Detroit Lions corner Darius Slay for following him around all game. Others like to give credit to the Lions coaching staff for doubling him with a safety so Slay could jump short routes without having to worry about getting beat deep. But Cooper has seen bracket coverage before and better corners than Slay.

The main problem is Cooper is dropping footballs at alarming rate with to drops on Sunday. Those two drops give him 10 for the season and that’s good for the most in the NFL up to this point. Head coach Jack Del Rio recognizes the drops but seems to think keeping him more involved is the answer.

At the post-game press conference, Del Rio addressed the issue, saying, “He dropped a couple. Obviously, he’s a good player for us. We need to find ways for him to get more involved. For him to come out of the game with one catch, we’ve got to do a better job there.”

There is definitely some truth to that but the main problem Cooper is having these days is Cooper himself. We already know he can catch the ball, which is why he was the Biletnikoff Award winner at Alabama. In that great season, Cooper had six drops with a total of 130 catchable passes thrown his way.

This year so far, he has 10 drops in 85 targets period.

Adjusting to better coverage, the Xs and Os, and the speed of the game is what rookies are supposed to have problems with. Catching the football shouldn’t be such a big problem unless the player had problems with it before. But you can see for the numbers you already saw that’s not the case for Cooper.

Cooper’s problem is he came in highly drafted and he’s trying to hard to live up to not just those expectations but his own expectations. Cooper wants to make a big play every time he catches the ball so he’ trying to run with it before he catches it. Then once he drops one, he tries even harder to make up for it with a big play.

These drops don’t happen on deep balls because he knows once he catches it, the big play is already made. Cooper needs to find a way to relax, catch the ball like we all know he can and let the big play come to him after. He knows that so after a good week of practicing that this week, he should be good to go Sunday.