Jordan Reed is off to a healthy start for the Washington Redskins this season, but his increased presence on the field has yet to affect the stat sheet.
Playing with his fourth starting quarterback in six seasons, Reed is averaging just four receptions per game, the lowest average of his career.
"Well, Alex has been sold a bill of goods on Jordan Reed, that this dude wins every time," Cooley said. "And he does win more times than not. But what people are starting to do is play him with inside help and force him to go outside. He's pushing so hard to go inside, go inside, go inside, and all of a sudden, he can't. The timing is off on this. It's a five-yard route and Alex is making it too much of a one-man show."
The remarks got some interesting reaction throughout the course of the day, and Chad Dukes kicked off his segment with fellow teammate turned broadcaster DeAngelo Hall on CDVTW. Hall listened to Cooley's full segment and then respectfully disagreed:
"Yeah, I don't know if I quite agree with that," Hall said, specifically referencing the bill of goods line. "I feel like a lot of that is just Alex – and I don't know if Cooley was deflecting. It makes no sense if he was deflecting from Alex and throwing it onto Jordan not being the kind of player that I know he is.
"The statement kind of doesn't make sense."
Hall admitted that he wasn't immediately sure what play Cooley was referring to, but he remembered an option play from the Week 6 game that matches the description. He came away with a very different impression from the game film.
"Alex throws that pass and you could clearly see – a blind man could see – that Jordan is being covered great," he said. "And so, don't go there; go somewhere else. But to see Alex just force that ball there had me thinking, 'Why wouldn't Alex go somewhere else with the ball?'
"And because there's two guys on him, somebody's going to be open."