PHILADELPHIA, Pa. --Eagles wide collector Riley Cooper, who came back to practice on Tuesday after a short stint far from the group, said that he's spoken with each of his fellow team members independently since a movie catching him utilizing a censorious racial comment circulated around the web, requesting from them not to forget him his activities, however to judge him by his fate.
"I talked to everyone individually," he said following the team's joint practice with the New England Patriots. "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 them I apologize. They could tell it was from the heart, they know I'm not that kind of person. It feels good to have support from the guys."
He added that he felt that 100 percent of his teammates were in support of him, something he sensed on the field in his return.
"It felt good to be out there with the guys and catching and running and making some plays and them coming up to you, supporting you, high-fiving you, chest-bumping you like Jason Avant did in the end zone when I had that TD," Cooper said. "It just felt good to be back out here with the guys."
The Eagles had excused Cooper on Friday and sent him for sensitivity training after video of his remark, made at a Kenny Chesney concert in June, surfaced last week.
His goal now is to earn the respect back from his teammates that he may have lost since the video surfaced. Running back LeSean McCoy recently said that he had lost respect for Cooper after the remarks.
"Absolutely, just by my actions," Cooper said of gaining respect back. "Don't judge me for the past, more so the future and just watch my daily moves and what I'm doing."
Fellow wide receiver Avant, among the team leaders spotlighted by coach Chip Kelly, said that the Eagles are over the situation as a team.
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"I think you guys [the media] need the healing process more than the team," Avant said. "You guys got to cover it, so you keeping going, making the story go, but as far as our team, I think guys are definitely over it and we talked, we've had dialogue, we've accepted his apology. The only thing he can do is apologize. What else can he do? When a situation happens like that, there's not too many things you can do but apologize and be sincere about it. Now you guys have to get over it."
Asked whether or not a situation could arise where the team would part ways with Cooper due to the fallout from the situation, Kelly squashed the notion.
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