BALTIMORE — Amari Cooper learned a valuable life lesson early in his journey as a receiver.
“There’s always going to be some type of obstacle. You just have to beat the obstacle,” he said when asked about the challenges the Browns (5-3) have faced through the first half of the season. “It’s like the definition of what I do as a receiver, there’s a guy in front of me, an obstacle, and I’m trying to beat it.”
The men standing in his way have been more numerous this season. A serious second threat at receiver has yet to emerge — Elijah Moore has 29 catches for 270 yards and no touchdowns, and Donovan Peoples-Jones was traded after eight catches for 97 yards in seven games — so Cooper has drawn even more attention than usual from defenses.
“Certain scenarios, for sure,” he said Thursday. “It is just the nature of it. Sometimes teams decide to double-team you or give some extra attention to you and that’s when other players have to step up. And obviously I believe we have the guys in the room to do it, so it’s not really a problem.”
It could be if Moore, rookie wideout Cedric Tillman and tight end David Njoku don’t get more involved and produce more consistently. At some point, a defense might go overboard to take away Cooper and force someone else to make it pay.
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Despite the extra attention, Cooper’s found ways to keep producing. He leads the team with 35 catches, 617 receiving yards and two touchdowns heading into the AFC North showdown with the Ravens on Sunday.
“Just by really paying attention to what those guys are trying to do and just go out there and just execute,” he said.
A perfect example was the 49-yard completion in the fourth quarter Sunday to set up the final touchdown in the 27-0 win over the Cardinals. They had been double-teaming Cooper on third down with a cornerback and safety Budda Baker, but Cooper realized Baker was taking a bad angle and he could run past both defenders. He did just that and pulled in a perfect throw from Deshaun Watson to finish with five catches on five targets for 139 yards and a touchdown. It was Cooper’s third 100-yard game of the season, bringing his career total to 33.
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“So finding ways just to find balls for him, whether it’s moving around, putting him in motion, hiding him in the backfield, whatever we need to do,” coordinator Alex Van Pelt said. “For starters, he has to be patient, and he has been.”
Cooper is a nuanced thinker but resides in a black-and-white world.
“It’s no gray area when it comes to receiver and what your job is,” he told The Chronicle-Telegram on Thursday. “Either you got open or you didn’t. Either you caught the ball when it was thrown to you or you didn’t. Nobody wants to hear, oh, he could’ve caught it, or he could’ve got open but this, that and the third happened.
“So the only way you can beat the obstacles is by actually realizing that there’s no gray area and going out there and doing your job.”
Deep passes work the same way. They’re completions or incompletions.
Watson and Cooper hooked up for 59- and 49-yard completions vs. the Cardinals, and a continuation of the explosive plays could be critical as the Browns look for ways to score against Baltimore, which leads the NFL with 13.8 points allowed.
“Deshaun loves to throw that deep ball, so it’s obviously very beneficial to us to have a connection there,” Cooper said. “It gives us a great opportunity at not just going for three but six (points). So it’s really important.”
He said Watson is the most aggressive quarterback with whom he’s played and the best deep thrower.
“He’s always looking for ways to throw the ball downfield and for the right reasons,” Cooper said. “The one I caught last week when were up 20, it was perfect.”
Cooper’s least productive game this season was in the 28-3 Week 4 loss to the Ravens, as he caught one of six targets for 16 yards. Baltimore defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald credited his players with recognizing how the Browns tried to scheme open Cooper, but rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson was the quarterback and couldn’t get the ball to anyone.
Even in the low times Cooper doesn’t change.
“Him and Nick (Chubb) both, when they’re out there, you look in their eyes and we can be up 20, we can be down 20 and they’re just the same guy no matter what,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “And any time we have a big third down or something, you’re looking like, all right, is Amari going to make this play for us? And he just comes up with it.”
The next challenge for the passing game is getting more from the other targets. Cooper knows that and feels like it’s about to take off with Watson healthy again.
“Obviously that’s a huge thing when it comes to offense: just spreading the ball around, getting everybody touches, confusing the defense,” he said. “Not giving them a point of reference of where the ball is going to consistently go. Just a great strategy overall for offenses for sure.”
