Browns' Amari Cooper shares massive update for Texans game

Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco will have arguably his favorite target back in the lineup for this coming Saturday's wild-card playoff game at the 10-7 Houston Texans.

Per Jake Trotter of ESPN, Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper confirmed Wednesday he'll play against Houston after he sat out the past two games while recovering from a heel injury.

"It's getting better every day," Cooper told reporters about the setback. "I'm running around now. Just a typical injury that you have to work through."

The Flacco-Cooper connection made history when Cleveland earned a 36-22 victory at Houston's NRG Stadium on Christmas Eve. Cooper set a new franchise record of 265 receiving yards in that game, and he also recorded 11 catches and two receiving touchdowns. 

According to ESPN stats, Cooper finished the regular season leading all Cleveland players with 1,250 receiving yards and 128 targets. He's second on the team with 72 receptions and five receiving scores. 

"They're not really a man [coverage] team, so I think the chances of them using a player to shadow me is a little bit less than what it would be if they were a man team," Cooper said about what he may see from the Texans during this Saturday's matchup. "But you never know. For the playoffs, teams [are] willing to do whatever they have to do to win. So, we'll just see."

Trotter shared that NFL Next Gen Stats show that the Texans played zone coverage "almost 87%" of the time in the Week 16 contest. Houston was without quarterback and unnamed 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud for that game, as he was in the concussion protocol. 

As of Wednesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the 11-6 Browns as 2.5-point road favorites against Stroud and the Texans. Per ESPN, Cleveland enters the playoffs leading the league in total defense (270.2 yards allowed per game).