National Football League

Jonathan Cooper feels poised for a breakout year

Published Jun. 12, 2015 6:27 p.m. ET

foxsports

Arizona Cardinals guard Jonathan Cooper has had a rough start to his NFL career. His rookie season was derailed by a broken foot, while his sophomore season he played in only 10 games due to various injuries.

Cooper thinks this is the year he could finally live up to the expectations of being the seventh overall pick in 2013.

"Mentally last year I thought I felt better, but now I'm getting confirmation from coaches and outsiders and that's really boosted my confidence," Cooper said to Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Cooper knows he has been labeled as a 'bust', but tries to block out all the negativity and concentrate on the task at hand.

"The people who matter, they aren't the ones saying that," Cooper said. "The people who matter are saying 'keep working.'"

This is the best Cooper has felt in a minicamp and thinks the team is in the best shape he has seen in his three years.

"The tempo of these days, this is the hardest we've worked as an entire unit, offense and defense," Cooper said. "I'm very impressed with what we've done these past two days."

(h/t Arizona Sports)