Jonathan Cooper continues to work toward being player Arizona Cardinals drafted him to be

GLENDALE, Ariz. — For the first time since he was a rookie, offensive guard Jonathan Cooper enters Arizona Cardinals training camp healthy.

There is no broken leg to recover from, both physically and mentally. And the hand injury that sidelined him at the end of the 2014 season is a thing of the past.

For Cooper, the seventh overall pick in 2013 out of North Carolina, there is only football, and getting better at it.

“Sort of feels like your rookie year when all you really have to do is go out and play and know your stuff,” Cooper said. “That really does make life a little bit easier on you.”

Early in camp, Cooper admitted to making some mistakes out on the field. The key is getting past them.

“Continue to watch film, study and be critical of myself,” he said of how he does it. “I’ll continue to do that. Just really emphasize getting in the playbook. And then just technically, get muscle memory back and continuously getting reps at the same thing.”

This season, that means reps at right guard. Originally drafted to play on the left side, Cooper slid over after the Cardinals signed left guard Mike Iupati as a free agent. The process of learning how to play on the other side of the line began months ago, and it’s something Cooper has been working at for a while and feels good about now.

“I’ve had a lot of work at it and now I feel like a decent right guard,” he said. “So it’s time to become a pretty good right guard and continue to progress until I feel like a great right guard.”

Cardinals coach Bruce Arians is impressed with Cooper’s play, praising the guard before knocking on the podium a couple times and saying, “I don’t want to jinx him.”

The 25-year-old’s development will be an interesting storyline to follow throughout camp. Though his career has not gone as anticipated, the potential the Cardinals saw in him is still there. Cooper said he feels like the quickness he was known for is back, but noted he won’t really know for sure until the pads are on and he gets to face off against a different opponent. If he’s right, Arizona’s offensive line very well could be one of the best in the NFL. If he’s wrong, though, then at some point the team will need to make a call on what kind of future it believes he has.

Cooper, who said his injury problems taught him he needed to have mental fortitude and toughness, knows it’s time to step up. In fact, he — along with 2013 second-round pick Kevin Minter — are both entering big seasons, as neither has firmly established themselves as NFL players, in large part due to injuries.

“He and I came from the same draft class and there were high hopes for us, and different circumstances kind of led us astray from being that player just yet, but it’s definitely not over,” Cooper said. “I feel like we can continue to work and be the players that were expected of us and that we expect to be.”

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