Cooper returns to the Eagles

JESUS SPENT 40 days and 40 nights sparring with the devil in the wilderness, without so much as a personalized protein smoothie to sustain him, according to published reports from Matthew, Mark and Luke.

Riley Cooper left the Eagles Friday morning and returned yesterday, a slightly narrower time frame. Cooper looked and sounded pretty much the way he looked and sounded last week - sad, reflective, remorseful for having managed to get himself on video at a Kenny Chesney concert shouting the "N-word" in a confrontation with a security guard.

The 4 days away did produce a subtle change, though. Yesterday, teammates started talking about moving on and focusing on football. Cooper can't risk talking that way yet, but he did catch three long passes over New England defenders toward the end of yesterday's joint practice between the Eagles and the Patriots. This was 1 day after the Birds finally released a depth chart, showing Cooper as a starter opposite DeSean Jackson, now that Jeremy Maclin is out for the season. And yesterday, another receiver fell, Arrelious Benn out for the season after tearing his left ACL in a special-teams drill.

It seems pretty clear now that Cooper will be an Eagle this season, barring injury or dramatic preseason performance drop-off, which is what head coach Chip Kelly has been saying all along. It isn't clear there are any Eagles who vehemently object to sharing a locker room with the fourth-year wideout from Florida, but if there are, they will have to talk that out with Cooper. Kelly said Cooper will play in Friday's preseason opener against the Pats, assuming he holds up physically through practices today and tomorrow.

Cooper and Kelly said that upon returning, Cooper completed his task of speaking with each teammate individually, quite an accomplishment, given the 90-man training camp roster. Kelly said that was a much bigger concern to him than how Cooper practiced.

"I told them, 'I don't want you to forgive me, because that puts the burden on you. I want it all on me.' I told them that, and I told 'em I apologize," Cooper told reporters after practice. "They could tell it was from my heart. They know I'm not that type of person. It feels good to have support from the guys."

Linebacker DeMeco Ryans, who greeted Cooper onfield at the beginning of practice, said: "There's no division in our locker room. Everybody's fine, everybody's cool with it. We're still brothers, working out here as a team."

Jackson, who last week seemed pretty standoffish about Cooper and about the Eagles' handling of the controversy, was at least slightly less so yesterday.

"He came out and had a good practice. He did a good job today," Jackson said. "He's my teammate. We work together."

But is he your friend?

"Yeah, he's a friend. Whatever the situation is, it is what it is. It wasn't directed to myself. Whatever it was, that's what he had to deal with, that's what he had to do."

Asked about the possibility of divisiveness, Jackson said: "I don't think anybody's worried about that. Everybody's moved on and is out here working and practicing and doing the best we can to become a better team."

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie also issued a statement about Cooper's return: "I want to make this clear; the words Riley Cooper used were totally unacceptable. His words may have been directed at one person but they hurt everyone. Riley has apologized to the team and community and has made a personal commitment to work hard to try and gain their trust and earn his position on the team."

We still don't know where Cooper went or exactly what had to happen for him to return. Kelly said he spoke with Cooper Monday night and Cooper indicated he was ready to come back. At one point in Kelly's remarks yesterday, he said he "deferred to who [Cooper] went to visit with" on the timing, but later Kelly indicated that since Cooper wasn't suspended, the timing was up to Cooper.

"We gave him the time to seek outside assistance," Kelly said. "He had an opportunity to go get that done, and he called and was coming back this morning, and I met with him and he came back."

"I realize that to be in the NFL, you have a responsibility to behave on and off the field," said Cooper, who said he met with his parents in Florida over the weekend. (So presumably, whatever assistance he received occurred there.)

"It took a few days. It's been a tough run," Cooper said, when asked how he knew he was ready to return. "I talked to Chip last night and this morning, and he asked me, 'How do you feel, are you ready to come back?' I said, 'Absolutely. I love being out there on the field, I love being out there with the guys.' I wanted to be out there today. The sooner the better."

Of course, the Eagles and Cooper being ready to get back to football doesn't make the controversy go away. They will be dealing with it all season. The bigger Cooper's role, the more they'll be dealing with it.

"It's going to be tough. I'm going to live with this for the rest of my life," Cooper said. "It's one of those things; you can't let it affect your play on the field. That's what I'm going to strive to do.

"I realize how many people I've hurt, how many families I've hurt, how many young kids I've hurt. That's what we talked about, the severity of it. I completely realize that and take full responsibility for it."

Kelly said he will lean on leaders such as Ryans and wideout Jason Avant for a sense of how things are going in the locker room.

"I think our team is extremely close," Kelly said. "There's been great open communication between ourselves and our players and our coaches as this whole thing transpired . . . it is an ongoing process."

There will be fans who will have something to say Friday night at Lincoln Financial Field, and in every NFL stadium where Cooper appears. Opponents, too. In Bill Belichick's news conference before yesterday's joint practice, the Pats' coach was asked if he talked to his defensive backs about practicing against Cooper. Belichick said he did not.

"I know people are going to say stuff. They've always said stuff," Cooper said. "You've got to be the bigger man. You have to have thick skin. I'm aware of it."

Cooper reiterated how disappointed his parents are. Talking to them about what he said was part of his weekend of counsel.

"That's one of the hardest parts of dealing with this whole thing - knowing how I was raised. I was raised great. I have a great mom and dad. They're having a hard time dealing with it, and that's pretty tough for me to cope with. I'm trying to be there for them, they're trying to be there for me. I'm their son. That's where we are."

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