The drama surrounding Riley Cooper had quieted down after the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver was caught on tape using a racial slur while attending a Kenny Chesney concert. He apologized, received acceptance from his teammates and the issue died down. Once preseason football began, the incident was essentially forgotten about, until Thursday when a fight involving Cooper and cornerback Cary Williams broke out at practice.
Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Williams and Cooper ended up getting into a fight and several players had to separate the two. Quarterback Michael Vick had to jump in and help stop the scuffle after Williams threw bunches at Cooper and had to be forcibly removed off the wide receiver.
Cooper was clearly shaken up by the entire situation. The receiver stayed out of one-on-one drills that involved all of the wide receivers and defensive backs. McLane reports that DeSean Jackson eventually had a conversation with both Williams and Cooper separately. While it is not clear if the racial slur issue was the cause of the fight, Williams was once quoted saying Cooper was the elephant in the locker room after the video made its way to the Internet.
"We're trying not to make it a distraction, we're trying to get through it," Williams said, via NFL.com's Albert Breer. "But obviously the magnitude of the issues makes it a lot harder to cope with. Everyone's gonna come along at their own time. We're trying to find a way to forgive, find a way to be merciful. Everyone has their own perspective. We're having a tough time. We're at a crossroads."
It is unfair to assume the video was the cause of the fight, but it is hard to think that it did not at least possibly play a part. Outside of Williams, many of Cooper's teammates have spoken out in support of him. Vick and Jackson were amongst those saying they had his back and understood that the video did not truly represent the kind of person Cooper was.
Cooper has been fighting the controversy since July. The fourth-year receiver took a leave of absence from the team in order to seek counseling. Upon his return, the video was not brought up again. With four days until Philadelphia's opener, team chemistry is very important.
