According to multiple reports star receiver, Brandin Cooks will be inactive for the Houston Texans in their primetime matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night. This move comes after the receiver’s cryptic tweet regarding his situation with the team after they failed to find a suitable offer for him at the trade deadline.
Buy Texans TicketsDon’t take a man’s kindness for granted. Covered for the lies for too long those days are done. Crossed the line with playing with my career 🏹
— Brandin Cooks (@brandincooks) November 1, 2022
Cooks, who is one of the most talented players on the Texans’ floundering offense, was expected to draw significant interest from other teams at the deadline, but the guaranteed money he is due next season disqualified him from being a suitable trade candidate for most teams. The Dallas Cowboys reportedly made an offer for him but were unable to reach a deal due to Houston’s unwillingness to eat any guaranteed money to close the deal.
Sources: Brandin Cooks will be inactive as team doesn’t believe he’s prepared to player after being absent from meetings and practices. He expected to be traded Tuesday. But guaranteed $18M for 2023 made it impossible to close a deal, the last potential partner being the Cowboys.
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) November 3, 2022
Cooks was a non-participant during the Texans’ practice sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it is believed that the coaching staff did not feel he was adequately prepared to perform well against the Eagles. With this development, Houston, the second-worst team in the NFL by record, will play Philadelphia without the benefit of their top two receivers in Week 9 in what is shaping up to be a smackdown of epic proportions for the struggling franchise.
The veteran receiver’s status moving forward is unclear. Whether he can be considered a holdout at this point is likely up for debate given that his failure to participate in practice and meetings this week was, at least partially, deemed to be due to “personal” reasons. It may be the case that he just needs time to evaluate his future in Houston, but the signs certainly seem to point to a festering feud between player and team after they failed to move him at the trade deadline.
Speculation abounds on just about every subject concerning this situation, and without a direct report from inside the Texans’ facility, any developments are likely to be as nebulous as what has already been determined. One thing is certain, though; Houston is in for a doozy of a primetime game on Thursday night in what should be considered the most uneven matchup on the NFL’s 2022 schedule to date.
