The Eagles haven’t said whether Cooper, their fourth receiver last year, will be placed on Injured Reserve or kept on the active roster. Broken collarbones are generally anywhere from four- to- eight-month injuries, although the duration depends on the extent of the injury.
A normal broken collarbone would not be a season-ending injury, but general manager Howie Roseman said after practice Saturday at Lehigh that he didn’t have enough information yet to know how long Cooper will be out or whether the Eagles will have to make a roster move.
“We’ll have a medical meeting tonight like we have every night and talk to our doctors and trainers and we’ll go from there,” Roseman said. “We bring competition and depth at every position, because this is a game where there’s going to be some attrition.
“We’re excited about the guys on our roster. At any position, if there’s something that interests us, we’ll explore it.”
Cooper went down early in practice Saturday afternoon during a non-contact 1-on-1 drill. He nearly made a circus catch off a deep ball from Michael Vick but got tangled up with cornerback Curtis Marsh at the right sideline and dropped the ball as he landed hard on the ground.
Cooper stayed down on his knees for several minutes until a trainer arrived. He left the field walking under his own power and didn’t return to practice.
“We’ve got 13 receivers in camp, and we’ll just evaluate it as we go on,” Roseman said. “We still have some before our first game.”
The Eagles open the season on Sept. 9 in Cleveland, six weeks from Sunday.
Cooper projects to be the Eagles’ fourth receiver, behind DeSean Jackson, Maclin and Jason Avant.
Also in camp are veterans Chad Hall and Mardy Gilyard, plus rookies or first-year pros Damaris Johnson, McKay Jacobson, Ron Johnson, Marvin McNutt, Jamel Hamler, Tiger Jones and Elvis Akpla.
Cooper, 24, caught 16 passes for 315 yards and a touchdown in 16 games last year. In two NFL seasons, he has 23 catches for 431 yards and two TDs.
But Cooper put up very good numbers during a three-game stretch last year when he made his first three NFL starts in place of injured Jeremy Maclin. In a three-game stretch against the Giants, Patriots and Seahawks, he caught 13 balls for 240 yards and his one 2011 touchdown.
“I think it’s a bump in the road,” Roseman said. “He’ll recover from it. He’s had a good offseason and because he’s had that good offseason, he’s gotten a lot of reps in the off-season and gotten stronger and gotten more knowledge of our system, and that will benefit him when he’s ready to come back.”
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