Cooper had been absent since Sunday while he was dealing with a “personal matter.”
Wide receiver Amari Cooper is returning to practice with the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday.
Bills coach Sean McDermott said DB Ja’Marcus Ingram has been excused Wednesday for a personal family matter
WR Amari Cooper (personal) is back with the team and will participate
Returner Brandon Codrington will not participate in today’s walk-through due to his hamstring injury
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) January 8, 2025
Cooper missed the team’s final game of the regular season, not even traveling to New England, as he dealt with what the team said was a “personal matter.” On Monday, when head coach Sean McDermott met with members of the media to start the week, he had said that the 31-year-old receiver had not yet returned to the team, but in Wednesday’s pre-practice press conference the Buffalo head coach said that Cooper was back.
Over his ten-year career, Cooper has had 25 catches for 304 yards and two touchdowns in the playoffs as a member of the Las Vegas Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, and Cleveland Browns. Now he will be looking to play more than two postseason games (the most he’s ever had in one year) with the Buffalo Bills.
Cooper joined the Bills in October and immediately changed the way defenses planned for the Josh Allen led Buffalo offense. While Cooper has only had 20 catches for 364 yards and two touchdowns since arriving in Buffalo, the Bills other receivers have had less pressure from defenses as they are having to account for the veteran. Mack Hollins has not had any games with zero catches since October – he had two before that. Kahlil Shakir has only had three games with less than five catches since Cooper came to town compared to three of the first five games he played this season. Rookie Keon Coleman’s best three games – including one in which he had 125 yards receiving – all came after Cooper’s arrival. All four of running back James Cook’s 100-yard games came after the NFL’s trade deadline as well.
Having Amari Cooper available for the NFL Playoffs will be essential to making sure that the Buffalo offense is firing on all cylinders. The “everybody eats” offense needs to have everybody at the table to be effective.