Jets rookie guard Anez Cooper can't wait to start talking trash in the NFL

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – Teammates and coaches may not be able to see the exact moment when Jets rookie guard Anez Cooper finally gets comfortable playing at the NFL level. They almost certainly will hear it, though.

One of the defining characteristics of Cooper’s game is the near-constant trash talk he delivers before, during, and after the blocks he throws, and there are times when it is difficult to tell which is more punishing. His commentary can cripple opponents, leave them rethinking their purpose on the field, and shatter any fragile confidences they might otherwise enjoy.

“He gets into people's heads,” Jets linebacker Kiko Mauigoa told Newsday of his former teammate at the University of Miami and current one with the Jets. “That’s kind of like his superpower. He’s really good at picking his words and getting in your head.”

So far in training camp, though, such barbs have been rare. The 6-5, 334-pound sixth-round pick said he is not delivering his devastating diatribes. It’s a conscious decision. This offensive lineman is holding… his tongue.

“I ain’t doing it now,” he told Newsday. “I have to get over some rookie mistakes and I’ll be good. I can’t talk and then go out there and mess up so I try to focus on making sure I do the right things. When I know I’ve got everything under control I’ll start doing it.”

And when might that be?

“It’s gonna start pretty soon,” he said.

Perhaps even this week when the Jets face the Buccaneers in a pair of joint practices and then the preseason opener on Friday night.

In the meantime, Cooper has been focusing less on the jabbering and more on the job. He said the increase in speed and details of the NFL game are the biggest adjustments coming from college. He also said he’s been a little taken aback by the physical intensity in the practices with the Jets, although not in the way one might think.

“I was expecting more hard-core college-style practices but it’s been pretty smooth,” he said of the tempo of the Jets’ workouts. “Our practices at Miami were rough from a physicality standpoint. That was what we preached at Miami. The NFL, it ain’t as bad. It’s chill. That’s kind of surprising.”

At this level players are expected to already have the fire Cooper said he was used to, so the practices are focused more on assignments and techniques rather than brutality.

Cooper has fit both of those pieces into the pro game so far and impressed his teammates.

“Man, he’s going to be a hell of a player,” starting right tackle Armond Membou said.  “He’s big, strong, he’s got this anchor, and he’s got this power that you want from an NFL guard. I really like what I’ve seen from him.”

Jets offensive line coach Steve Heiden said agreed.

“A big strong kid,” he said. “We’re just in the process of trying to learn it all, like any rookie. I’m really happy with how he has developed and grown. It’s going to be nice to see different people and different schemes. Things like that are great for a rookie to see to take that next step.”

Said Mauigoa: “I think Coop has a really good future with the Jets. He has really strong hands, good steady feet. He can move people around on run blocks. And he is a very competitive person. You’re gonna hear him chopping it up on the field. That’s the Coop I played with at Miami and he’s going to bring the same energy here.”

Cooper said he tries to never get too personal with what he blurts out at opponents. He doesn’t scour Wikipedia pages or Instagram posts looking for fodder.

“I don’t want to go out and talk about anybody’s life stuff,” he said. “It’s more like ‘You suck! You’re trash! You can’t mess with me!’ Just stuff like that. Because I don’t want people to talk back to me about my personal life.”

He declined to admit the worst thing he ever told another player on the field.

“I can’t even tell you,” he said with a mischievous smile. “It’s bad.”

He did admit that he regrets one particular episode that occurred during last year’s game against Florida. In that case the trash talk spilled over onto social media after the game.

“It was a lesson,” he said. “It was a rivalry game, the heat of the moment, I wasn’t thinking.”

The one person who so far has received Cooper’s verbal jabs with the Jets has been Mauigoa, and that’s only because they have a close relationship from their time at Miami and because Cooper has a close relationship with Kiko’s brother Sisi who played next to Cooper at tackle for three years in college and is a first-round pick now playing guard for the Giants. So during walk-throughs or in practices, Kiko Mauigoa might come at Cooper with a move that he used in college and Cooper will tell him in no uncertain terms what he can do with it.

It’s all fun of course. So long as it remains in bounds.

“There’s a limit to it,” Mauigoa sad. “At a certain point you have to stop. But we understand how this goes and how football is. It’s just him having fun out there. That’s how he is and I love it. It brings everybody out for a competitive energy and after practice we’re back to teammates.”

As for actual opponents, it will be interesting to see how Cooper’s comments are taken in the NFL.

One thing is certain: Once he re-starts his trash talking he has no plans to stop it.

“I feel like it builds confidence,” he said. “If you are going to talk it, you have to be about it, so it builds confidence in football.”

“You can’t take his personality out of him,” Mauigoa said. “It’s who he is. We got him because of who he is and the type of player he is. You can’t change that type of stuff about him. I think everybody will understand that. It’s between the lines, that’s all it is.”

Cooper may not get much of a chance to play – or prattle – once the regular season starts. The Jets have four returning starters on their offensive line and added Dylan Parham in free agency as the fifth starter at guard. That leaves Cooper slated as a backup right now.

“Right now I’m just trying to work and take in whatever I can from the guys who have been in the league for a minute,” he said. “So I stand behind them and keep my head low and take in every detail so when that time comes I’m prepared and ready.”

The Jets are excited for what that moment will look like.

And, of course, for what it will sound like too.