Last week Amari Cooper appeared for an interview with Pro Football Talk. Initially host Mike Florio just put out that Amari Cooper had set his goal for this season at 2000 yards receiving — which..." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesSilver And Black Pride homepageHorizontal - WhiteSilver And Black Pridean Oakland Raiders communityFollow Silver And Black Pride online:Follow Silver And Black Pride on TwitterFollow Silver And Black Pride on FacebookLog in or sign upLog InSign UpSite searchSearchSearchSilver And Black Pride main menuFanpostsFanshotsRaidersOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 321 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Raiders StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Raiders NewsYahoo Raiders Team PageYahoo Raiders ReportYahoo Raiders Depth ChartYahoo Raiders TransactionsYahoo Raiders PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕Amari Cooper: In order to ‘flourish’ in NFL ‘I needed to be gone’ from OaklandNew https://www.raiderslockerroom.com/authentic-antonio-brown-jersey ,157commentsPDTLast week Amari Cooper appeared for an interview with Pro Football Talk. Initially host Mike Florio just put out that Amari Cooper had set his goal for this season at 2000 yards receiving — which we found a bit funny considering no receiver has ever had that many receiving yards and Cooper has never come anywhere close to it.Coop said a lot more than that, however, a good portion of which was about why Oakland was not the place for him making his trade to Dallas a welcome one. The release of that interview we initially missed, but the Dallas Morning News picked up this past weekend.One thing I have long said of Coop is that he has a lot of potential he was just not reaching. He never seemed happy in Oakland. It showed in his lack of aggression on the field, his frequent disappearances from games, and in his demeanor off the field.Following his trade, I instantly lauded it as a win for the Raiders. Soon after seeing how he was playing his best football in Dallas, it was clear it was a win for both sides of the trade. The Raiders got a first round pick and the Cowboys got the best version of Coop the Raiders were not getting. The question was whether this was Coop’s fault or the Raiders for not using him properly. I’ll let him tell it.“I think the change of scenery was really necessary,” said Cooper. “I really, honestly, don’t think if I would’ve stayed with the Raiders last season that I would’ve been able to flourish and reach some heights that I was able to reach as a Cowboy. So, it was definitely necessary.“I don’t think it was a good fit for me. I don’t think I was really able to showcase my skills there for whatever reason, I’ll call it extenuating circumstances. But for whatever reason Womens Derek Carr Jersey , I wasn’t able to reach my heights and I kind of knew that I needed to be gone in order to do some of the things that I wanted to do as an NFL player.’Coop’s best season was his second season in 2016 in which he went for 1153 yards. After that his numbers took a tumble. Down to 680 yards in 14 games in 2017 and on pace for another career low in 2018 with just 280 yards in six games. In those first few games Cooper said he knew he would need to leave in order to reach his potential.”I felt like there are things that I wanted to do out there on the field during the games, certain plays that I wanted to be called and certain routes that I wanted to run that just weren’t a part of the game plan,” said Cooper.The result proves his point, if even perhaps that it was a self fulfilling prophecy. In nine games with the Cowboys, Cooper saved his season and put up a career best 80.6 yards per game to surpass 1000 yards on the season and ultimately head back to the Pro Bowl for the third time in four NFL seasons.Last season was the honeymoon for Coop in Dallas. That will probably extend into this season. And at some point in the next 8 months, that will mean a new big time contract. Good for him and for the Cowboys if that comes to pass. That’s the best place for him. Oakland wasn’t that place regardless. The Raiders will hope their selection of Johnathan Abram at the 27 spot from the Cowboys makes it more worth it to them as well as Antonio Brown is more worth number one receiver money.Follow @LeviDamien The Oakland Raiders spent the first quarter of the season getting close before finally breaking through for their first win against the Cleveland Browns.A lopsided loss to the Los Angeles Chargers looked like a step back, even if coach Jon Gruden tried to put a positive spin on the game Monday.“I think there’s a lot of good things, honestly, that happened yesterday,” Gruden said about the 26-10 loss before ticking off a list of problems. “The scoreboard was lousy, the field positon was bad, we gave up some big plays that was not good. Terrible interception in the red zone. There’s some negative things that are still resonating with me and Raider Nation.”Gruden then went on to praise the play of eight rookies, including tackle Brandon Parker and defensive tackle P.J. Hall Antonio Brown Raiders Jersey , fill-in left guard Jon Feliciano, and some good plays made by Derek Carr outside of a costly interception on first-and-goal from the 1.“I’m going to continue to emphasize the good and do everything I can to fix the things that are bad, because most of the things that are bad, my fingerprints are all over,” Gruden said.It was not easy to sugarcoat this game, which marked the first time all season the Raiders (1-4) never held a lead. The pass rush generated little pressure, the defense created no turnovers, special teams provided no short fields, and Carr threw an interception at the worst time possible.With the Raiders trailing 20-3 and looking to mount a comeback late in the third quarter, Oakland had the ball first-and-goal from the Los Angeles 1. Despite the presence of powerful back Marshawn Lynch, Gruden opted to call for a play-action pass on first down.When no one broke open immediately, Carr held onto the ball before trying to force it to Derek Carrier in the end zone instead of throwing the ball away. Melvin Ingram was right there for an interception, marking the second time this season the decision to use Lynch as a decoy at the goal line backfired.Fullback Keith Smith was stopped on a fourth-down run from the 1 in a 20-19 loss at Denver last month. And of course Womens Antonio Brown Jersey , Lynch is still smarting from another goal-line interception that cost him a Super Bowl title in Seattle back in the 2014 season.Lynch tossed his helmet up in frustration as he left the field and didn’t play the rest of the day as the Raiders were in their hurry-up offense for their only remaining drive.Gruden said he threw his visor and helmet in anger as well, and that frustration was something he had in common with Lynch. He still stood by the play call even if the execution didn’t work.“We were down 20-3. It wasn’t the last play of the Super Bowl. We were down 20-3,” he said. “It was first-and-goal, trying to save as much time as we can with a play-action pass.”The Raiders have little time to dwell on this loss with a trip to London coming up this week to face the Seahawks. Rather than request an East Coast game before the long trip and either practice there or in London for the week, the Raiders opted to stay at home for most of this week.They will practice Tuesday through Thursday at their facility in the Bay Area before taking the long trip to London on Thursday night. They will arrive Friday afternoon and then get ready for the game Sunday night.“I hope I can make it, honestly,” Gruden said. “I’m not great. I get claustrophobic. My son was a weightlifter and he won a powerlifting competition in Belarus. I had to fly 14 hours. I had to fly home 14 hours. I had vertigo for a month. I couldn’t even lay down, the house was spinning. I am hoping I don’t get vertigo. I’m not a great traveler. I’ll be honest with you, I hate it. I’m not good. I’m concerned. I’m more worried about that than our goal-line offense right now.”___