New Buffalo Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper addressed the media on Wednesday after being acquired from the Cleveland Browns on Tuesday. (Courtesy of the Buffalo Bills)
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00:00So can you share your reaction to the trade?
00:08I mean, you probably maybe had an inkling something was happening, but now that it's
00:12happened, what do you think?
00:15I'm still taking it all in a little bit.
00:17You know, getting traded in the middle of the season, it's definitely a fast turnaround.
00:23So I don't know if I've had enough time to really process it, but at the end of the day,
00:27it's just football.
00:29How was the drive over?
00:30Brandon told us that you drove from Cleveland to Wichita Park.
00:34How was that?
00:35What were you thinking about?
00:37I was just thinking about, I don't know, it kind of felt like a long drive to my first
00:43day of school, kind of.
00:44So, yeah, it was a lot to think about.
00:47Obviously, you know, playing with Josh Allen, just kind of what's your, how much do you
00:51know about Josh?
00:52What do you think of him from watching him?
00:54And what do you think of playing with him?
00:56Yeah, I mean, obviously, I don't know him personally.
00:59Obviously, I will in the next, you know, 11 games or so.
01:04But as far as the way he plays, I mean, it's phenomenal every time I turn on the television
01:10and watch him play.
01:11You know, he plays with a lot of grit, a lot of hustle.
01:16He plays hard.
01:18And obviously, he's been, you know, one of the top quarterbacks in the game for a while
01:21now.
01:22So, just to be able to play with him and experience that in person, I think it's going to be real
01:27cool.
01:28How do you chalk up what's happened the first couple of weeks, this first six weeks you've
01:34played him?
01:35And how do you put that behind you?
01:37Yeah, I mean, you know, one of the things that we hop on as football players is to just
01:44be where your feet are.
01:45Yeah, I mean, yeah, you can look back at the past, but only to learn from it.
01:49So, you know, this game comes with a lot of ebbs and flows.
01:55Yeah, we weren't having the best season over there in Cleveland, but this season is long,
02:01you know what I mean?
02:02But obviously, I'm not there anymore, so I'm, you know, hyper-focused on my situation now.
02:07So, I can only go from here.
02:11It's going from having one win to going to a team that's leading the division and maybe
02:18a place that you're more accustomed to than being on a winning team.
02:21What does that feel like, just making that transition?
02:24I mean, the goal of playing in the NFL is to win.
02:30So, to come in and be on a winning team, it's obviously a good feeling.
02:37It's not a bad feeling.
02:38So, yeah.
02:39Does having a relationship with Adam Henry kind of help as you're getting used to this
02:44office?
02:45It helps a lot.
02:46You know, just with comfortability, I would say.
02:49You know, seeing a familiar face, especially having that face be your coach, the guy you're
02:56going to interact with on a day-to-day basis.
02:58And I know him.
02:59You know, I played for him for two years.
03:01So, I would just say just a comfortability factor, I guess.
03:07You've been successful at all three stops that you've had.
03:11What have you learned to make it so you can be so consistently good at different spots
03:17with different quarterbacks and different systems?
03:20Just being me.
03:22You know, I've been playing this game for a long time.
03:24Obviously, long before the NFL.
03:26I think I have a good feel for the game.
03:29Just got to go out there and, like I said before, it's just football.
03:33You know, go out there, know your assignment, and just play freely.
03:38What do you think of the prospect of playing a game five days after a trade?
03:47I don't know.
03:48It's uncharted territory for me.
03:51The one time I did get traded mid-season, you know, the Cowboys, they had a bye week
03:56that same week.
03:57So, I kind of had a lot of time to prepare, to know the system and things of that nature.
04:02So, this is definitely new for me.
04:05At the end of the day, it's just football.
04:08You know, I think I'm a pretty cerebral guy.
04:12At least cerebral enough to learn the playbook as fast as I can.
04:18So, I can go out there and get lined up and just run routes, catch the ball, get open.
04:23You know, compete in the run game.
04:26Brandon recalled, Brandon Bean recalled the pre-draft meeting you had with him
04:31when he was in Carolina.
04:32Yeah.
04:33Do you still recall that meeting and how you were outlining plays to him
04:37and all these things?
04:39Yeah, I do remember that.
04:40I remember that meeting vividly because I didn't have many meetings coming out.
04:45I knew I would be, you know, a top five, top ten pick.
04:49So, obviously I had an agent at that point.
04:51We were very selective about who we met with.
04:54So, yeah, I remember I met with him in a restaurant in Tuscaloosa that I used to go to
04:57all the time, and, you know, we talked some ball.
05:00So, I remember it, yeah.
05:01Mark, you mentioned being traded in season before.
05:04Obviously, you had the difference with the bye week,
05:06but can you lean on that experience of joining a new team on the fly
05:10as you prepare for this, you know, journey here with the Bills?
05:14Yeah, for sure.
05:15I mean, experience is the best teacher, 100%.
05:20You know, it's easy to go through something that you've been through before.
05:23So, definitely can lean on that for sure.
05:26Does it give you a boost individually?
05:28Not even looking at what you were at in the past,
05:30but just a new change of scenery, something new.
05:32Does that reinvigorate you this season?
05:35Yeah, yeah, it does.
05:37It does 100% for several reasons, actually.
05:41You know, it's just that feeling of having a fresh beginning, a new start,
05:46a blank canvas that you get to control your destiny, you know.
05:50So, yeah.
05:52I know you're a big chess player.
05:54Do you kind of take that onto the field with you
05:56as far as kind of how you set up people and how you play your game
05:59and kind of coordinate that the same way?
06:01Yeah, I guess you can draw a lot of parallels from the two.
06:07Definitely, I try to set people up with my route running,
06:10try to deceive them, try to make them think I'm going away,
06:13that I'm not going.
06:14So, yeah, definitely.
06:16What do you remember about the 2022 NFC Bulls?
06:21Yeah, I remember that game.
06:23I remember we were supposed to, I believe, play here.
06:25It was crazy, snowed in here, so we had to change location.
06:30I remember we drove to Detroit to play the Bills.
06:36I remember having a pretty decent game that game, for sure,
06:39definitely over 100 yards.
06:40I think I scored, but we did not win.
06:45So, that was disappointing, but, yeah, I remember the game.
06:49Outside of the snow, what do you know about the city of Buffalo,
06:51surrounding area, western New York?
06:54Not much, I'm not going to lie to you.
06:56Not much, I don't know much about Buffalo.
06:58Obviously, I've been to New York on several occasions,
07:01but never this way, for real.
07:04What do you think about being reunited with Adam Henry?
07:07Yeah, it's cool.
07:08I mean, Adam Henry was definitely one of my favorite coaches,
07:11so I feel real good.
07:13I mean, we have a good relationship.
07:16We was talking a lot after he and I both departed from the Cowboys.
07:21He's actually one of the few coaches that I kept in contact with
07:25so much like that.
07:27So, I don't know, it was just unexpected,
07:30but we definitely have a good relationship.
07:32So, yeah.
07:33What are your expectations for Sunday?
07:35What can you say?
07:38I will still have to, you know, kind of go through the week,
07:41get a routine, still learn the playbook and everything.
07:45I just got here, you know what I mean?
07:48I don't really have an expectation right now that I can chalk up
07:53to being realistic until I go through the week.
07:57Obviously, if I had to answer the question,
08:00the expectation would just be to take full advantage of my opportunities.
08:04That's it.
08:05I don't know what opportunities I will be blessed with for Sunday,
08:11but whatever it is, just take full advantage of it.
08:15How did you decide on what number to wear?
08:19I only had two options.
08:23Yeah.
08:24Who on the team do you have previous relationships with
08:26that you've maybe already kind of communicated with since getting here?
08:32Well, Frank Gore, me and him are from a similar place.
08:38I never really met him, but I know his dad.
08:40So I guess you could say we kind of have a quasi type relationship.
08:45I would say Mike White, play with him at the Cowboys.
08:54Not many, not many people, honestly, but I still haven't met everybody.
08:57So, yeah, still looking to meet some guys.
09:02And you said it's like getting ready for the first day of school.
09:04What do you do?
09:05I mean, like, I know it's only three hours,
09:07but you like call people and talk about like, hey,
09:09what do you know about the bills?
09:10Are you trying to catch up with new teammates?
09:12Like, how does that go?
09:15You know, the turnaround was so fast.
09:17So obviously I was getting a lot of calls and text messages and things like that.
09:20So, yeah, I was looking at my phone a bit,
09:23but I was really just trying to take it all in,
09:25just trying to think about the situation.
09:28Like someone said earlier, it did kind of like reinvigorate me.
09:33It motivated me for sure.
09:35So I was just, you know, I guess it was a very introspective drive, I would say.