Cleveland Browns 36, Houston Texans 22
Q. That was fun.
AMARI COOPER: It was.
Q. Kevin said you were campaigning in the fourth quarter to get in back in the game?
AMARI COOPER: There was a lot of time. I fooled on the plate there. Yeah, I was kind of anxious a little bit for sure.
Q. Did you think in that moment, considering where the game was, did you feel like, well, probably not going to happen? Or did you think in the back of your mind, there's a chance?
AMARI COOPER: No, there was ten minutes left. Just the rhythm of the game, the way it was flowing, I felt very confident that I could get, you know, 300, I'm not going to lie to you. But it was cool. It was cool. I'm glad we got the W.
Q. After the first play, did you think this was going to be a big day for you?
AMARI COOPER: Yeah, I mean, obviously as a receiver, you always want to make big plays early. You want to touch the ball as soon as you can. So from the first play of the game, when we saw the game plan yesterday, I knew I had a chance to get that ball based on the coverages that they play and it kind of worked out how I expected it to.
Q. What was it about the Texas coverage that allowed you to --
AMARI COOPER: When you draw up a game plan for every team, you draw up the plays based on the coverages that they run. They run a lot of cover four, cover three, just try to draw up plays to take advantage of it.
Q. In the realm of you spending years and months getting on the same page as the quarterback, going all the way back to high school, how have you and Joe done it in the last three weeks?
AMARI COOPER: To be completely candid I would attribute most of it to Joe. He has an incredible feel for the game and he has an incredible arm. I think obviously with the relationship between receiver and the quarterback, it's a symbiotic relationship. But he is just like -- the best way to explain it is like we mesh well together.
Q. How bummed were you when you got taken out and -- on a day like today that you are he served --
AMARI COOPER: I didn't know what the record was honestly. I wasn't chasing no record. It was so much time left that I was like, you know, I could accomplish a lot more. So that's what I was more so anxious about.
Q. And when you got it, and knowing that you did it get it --
AMARI COOPER: So while I was out, you know, the Texans were trying to make a comeback and next thing you know, you're going back in. And that's when I was aware of the record because you know, a couple people told me. You know, fortunate enough to go get it.
It's something, truthfully, if I'm being candid, I don't take it for granted.
Q. 300 a special one.
AMARI COOPER: Yeah, it is.
Q. You mentioned --
AMARI COOPER: Honestly the way I look at it from an individual perspective, always go into the game trying to get a hundred yards first, right. And once I eclipse that, I'm like, okay, 200. It kind of keeps me motivated throughout the course of the game.
Q. Michael Jordan used to say the rim was big. Is it one of those days, the rim was big for you?
AMARI COOPER: Yeah, I've heard that analogy before. It felt exactly like that to be honest. Seemed to -- not to disrespect their defensive backs, but it seemed like everything was flowing well and it kind of seemed a little bit easier.
Q. How much did that fourth down catch you had on the sideline where Joe is on the verge of getting a sack, and he said he just sort of sees you out of the periphery, how did that sum up?
AMARI COOPER: Which one? The one where he was going down?
Q. On your sideline, where he's going down and sort of throws and you get two feet in. Right before your touchdown.
AMARI COOPER: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah -- the thing that I notice about Joe, even though we are only playing with each other for a short period of time, the last game, I realized his arm strength. Because I saw a couple plays where he was going down similar to that and he was still able to get the ball out with great accuracy.
So on that play, I saw that he was going down, but for some reason, I knew he would still get the ball off. But a lot of times, you know, quarterbacks just let it be and they just go down, but not with Joe.
Q. How did it feel to set the tone early in that game with that big reception; that you'll never look back after that?
AMARI COOPER: It always feels good, not just me setting a tone but when we are in a game and Myles gets a sack early in the game or Dave catches a pass early in the game for a big gain, setting the tone is very important because as you guys know, this game has a lot to do with momentum and when you get that momentum early, you try to keep it as long as you can, and that what helps teams win.
Q. Seems like the team is getting better. How do you feel about the team now?
AMARI COOPER: Again, you know, it's all about rhythm. Trying to find our rhythm. We seem to have found it a little bit. We just want to keep building on that.
Q. Back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, first time in Browns history, so in addition to this big record of the 265, how does it feel to also achieve that?
AMARI COOPER:
THE WITNESS: Feels great. Like I said before, you know, not something that I don't take it for granted. Just being able to be available for the team to be consistent, to go out there and make plays because that's what they expect from us, right. Go out there and make plays. So I'm glad to be doing my job.
Q. Just to be clear, in the fourth quarter, you're sitting there, not thinking about the record, you're thinking, I can top three hundred?
AMARI COOPER: Yeah, I didn't know what Josh's record was. I'll be lying if I said I was like, okay, I got 2-something. I told you guys my state of mind every game that I play. It's always, you know, the goal is always a hundred first and then if I touch that, why not 200. If I touch that, why not 300.
Q. Joe told us that you reminded him that you were 225; do feel like your politicking worked?
AMARI COOPER: Say that again.
Q. He said, Amari is always saying to me, I'm 225.
AMARI COOPER: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, because you know, DBs most of the times, they are smaller than I am. I feel like, you know, most quarterbacks have played with smaller body receivers. So I have to remind him sometime because we have to communicate, especially given the circumstances, him coming in so late. I just remind him like, yo, just sometimes you can throw it up like these guys are small compared to me. I can just use my body to show them off and make a play.
Q. Getting in -- had nothing to do with the actual record, and had everything to do with?
AMARI COOPER: Just getting more. Obviously I understood the circumstances. I understood that we were up by a lot. I understood there's bigger fish to try down the road. So I understood. But you have to try, right.
Q. You mentioned 200. You're one of only two players in NFL history to have three 200-yard performances with three different teams. T.O. is the other one. What is it about you that you've had these type of performances everywhere you've gone?
AMARI COOPER: I feel like I could do something at least similar to what I've done today. It's really just all about opportunity. The stars have to align sometimes. The deep balls really do help.
But you know, it's just a testament to, you never know. You never know. It's any given Sunday. I came down on one play and kind of got banged up, and generally if somebody kind of gets banged up, they are like, you know, they don't know what they can do after that.
But I just kept going.
Q. I've seen in the locker room you rapping, then you go out, have a game like this. How much fun are you having with this football team right now?
AMARI COOPER: Winning is always fun. It doesn't matter the teammates. You can have the coolest teammates, but if you're losing, it's not going to be so much fun. Because we come in here every day, we labor. It's a lot of hard work and you want to see some results from all of that hard work and when you don't, it's very disappointing, so I'm having a lot of fun.
Q. It's been awhile for Joe and for you and for everybody. One game to get Thursday night. What does it mean?
AMARI COOPER: It means a lot. That's what we play for. We play to win championships. You know, the path to doing it is making playoffs first, so it means a lot.
Q. How far can you guys go? How far can Joe Flacco now that he's come in here take this football team coupled with this defense?
AMARI COOPER: It depend, like I said before, it's really any given Sunday. You have to play your best football on game day, and that's what we preach. That's why our Coach Stefanski, he always preaches 1-0 every week. Like nothing else matters. Nothing else matters, the past, way in the future doesn't matter. It's all about where your feet are, so we just try to go 1-0 every week.
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