First-round rookie wideout Omar Cooper Jr. was delivering the goods in his first play as a New York Jets member. He grabbed a pass for 30 yards and placed the team in a 1st & Goal situation. However, that was all she wrote, as he is now headed to injury reserve.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Cooper suffered an ankle sprain and will be on injured reserve. He’ll be sidelined for at least four games with a designation to return.
The high ankle sprain will sideline Cooper for a month, leaving the wide receiver corp without a first-round talent who has championship pedigree after what he accomplished with Indiana.
Why is a high ankle sprain so bad?
A high ankle sprain is a severe injury because it damages the syndesmotic ligaments that hold your lower leg bones (the tibia and fibula) together above the ankle joint, destabilizing your entire lower leg rather than just the joint itself.
A high ankle sprain is easy to re-injure because the damaged ligaments are under constant mechanical stress with every step the person takes. Hence, when a wideout, for instance, runs routes and makes high-impact steps or intense changes of direction, the ligaments are compromised.
Jets WR depth chart without Omar Cooper Jr.
The Jets will have to deal with not having Cooper on the field for the upcoming four games, so Geno Smith is down a weapon. Until then, these are the wide receivers that offensive coordinator and playcaller Frank Reich will have at his disposal:
- Garrett Wilson
- Adonai Mitchell
- Isaiah Williams
- Arian Smith
