Jonathon Cooper: ‘I’m never going to say that I doubted myself’

Rookie OLB Jonathon Cooper was one of the many standout players against the Seahawks, particularly when he strip sacked QB Alex McGough on a fourth down.

Pretty sweet.

After his time spent in training camp this summer, Cooper admitted that it hasn’t been easy leading up to the preseason.

“I didn’t know that the journey to get here would be so hard. But at the end of the day, I have confidence in myself and I just want to go out there and play the best that I can,” he said.

Cooper expected great plays out of himself, and he continues to expect those.

“I’m never going to say that I doubted myself,” he said. “I knew what I was capable of.”

Those capabilities include a mixture of talent, hard work, and learning from seasoned veterans like Von Miller, Bradley Chubb and even Malik Reed.

“I’ve learned a lot from them,” Cooper said. “They’ve been great mentors to me. Any question I have, they come with a great answer. Whether it’s coaching me up on my stance, whether it’s coaching me up on some pass rush.”

On the strip sack play in particular, Cooper explained his mental process.

“I felt like I could keep pushing that edge and I knew that number 10, the quarterback, likes to scramble to the right so I kept working that edge,” he said. “And low and behold, you keep working your hands and never give up and keep pushing and you’re going to get there. I saw that on Chubb’s sack too.”

He’s not assuming he has a roster spot in the bag, though.

“I can’t speak on that,” he said about potentially earning the fourth OLB slot. “That’s up to the coaches obviously. I just want to go out there and show them that whatever they ask me to do, whatever it is, I’m willing to do it and give 110% effort every single time on every single rep.”