BEREA: Browns guard Jonathan Cooper knows he hasn’t come close to living up to his draft status.
He should be a longtime starter by now with a Pro Bowl resume. At least those were the expectations placed upon him when the Arizona Cardinals drafted him seventh overall in 2013.
Injuries have interfered, though.
“People are going to have their expectations,” Cooper said Monday. “I have my own expectations coming out, and I try not to let it go to the what-ifs, what if I had not broken a leg, etc., etc. I mean if you dwell on that, then you can never move forward.
“So I had my own expectations, and I still have my own expectations to continue and improve and be the player I know I can be.”
Cooper will receive his next chance with the Browns, his third NFL team, which claimed him off waivers from the New England Patriots on Oct. 10. He’s expected to start Sunday at home against the Cincinnati Bengals in place of right guard John Greco, who’s out for the season with a midfoot sprain suffered Nov. 27 against the New York Giants.
“This opportunity is definitely something that I don’t take for granted,” Cooper said, “and I’m confident that I’ll make the most of it.”
Coach Hue Jackson said, “We will see if he will go out there and do what he is capable of doing. That is what this league is about — opportunity, a chance, and when you get one, you have to make the most of it.”
Cooper was also in line to start for the Patriots until he tore the plantar fascia in his foot on the first day of training camp with them. As a rookie, he broke his leg during his third preseason game.
“I was fortunate to be drafted where I was and to say I haven’t lived up to it, I mean, I’d be running my head into a wall to really focus on that,” said Cooper, who’s started 11 of the 26 games in which he’s appeared. “I try to look forward, continue to improve, and who knows what the next few years will hold?”
Cooper, 26, knows he could go a long way toward turning his career around by playing well for the Browns. He’s scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March.
“They’re definitely pivotal,” he said of the final four games of the season. “Play well, and the sky’s the limit. That’s kind of my main focus, just help the team as much as I can and continue to improve.
“Sometimes you just have to find the right fit and the right circumstances, and sometimes luck is better than skill. I’m confident that all the pieces will fall into place for me, and I’ll be all right.”
Painful review
Jackson said he stepped away from football for only about a day and a half during the bye. He spent most of his time alone at team headquarters studying the Browns.
“It was not very pretty,” he said. “I have not had one of those kind of self-scouts in a long time. I do not know if maybe ever.”
What were Jackson’s biggest takeaways?
“We are not running the ball as well,” he said. “ ... We have way, way too many turnovers. Obviously, we have gotten our quarterback hit a lot. That is not just the line. Everybody has a role in that.
“Our defense has improved over the last several weeks. ... We still have to take the quarterback down. We are not doing that as well. We have to get more turnovers on defense.”
Roster moves
The Browns promoted backup center Anthony Fabiano from their practice squad to the active roster.
They also signed undrafted rookie Zach Sterup to their practice squad after the Carolina Panthers signed fellow offensive tackle Dan France off the Browns practice squad.
Fabiano, an undrafted rookie, spent 11 weeks on the Browns practice squad and was active but did not play against the Patriots on Oct. 9.
Sterup, 6-foot-9 and 318 pounds, has spent time on the practice squads of the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets. The NFL suspended him for the first four games of this season for violating its policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Show me the money
The NFL Players Association published financial information Monday showing that the Browns and 30 other teams have met a requirement by spending at least 89 percent of the total salary cap in cash during the four-year period spanning 2013-2016.
The Oakland Raiders are the only team that has yet to comply by spending a minimum of $493,549,500. They have until the end of the year to meet the requirement.
The Raiders, who have used $491,433,408, are one of four teams that have spent less than the Browns ($516,158,864). The others are the Carolina Panthers ($495,149,346), New England Patriots ($500,083,836) and San Francisco 49ers ($514,488,198).
Extra points
• Rookie starting strong safety Derrick Kindred didn’t attend practice Monday. “He has a foot issue that he is dealing with,” Jackson said. “We will know more as we go.”
• Left tackle Joe Thomas and tight end Randall Telfer didn’t practice. Thomas has been resting a problematic knee since October. Telfer had surgery on his right thumb Nov. 28 and watched Monday’s practice from the sidelines while wearing a cast on his hand.
• NFL spokesperson Natalie Ravitz announced on Twitter the Browns and Tennessee Titans will be permitted to participate Sunday in “My Cleats, My Cause.” The two teams had byes this past weekend when players throughout the league were allowed to wear custom cleats reflecting their commitment to charitable causes. The league reversed course after initially stating the Browns and Titans would not be able to participate.
• Jackson on whether rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman will return punts: “I would like to get him back there before the season is out just so he can do it.”
• Jackson didn’t want to say much about the recent meeting in which owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam preached continuity to team employees. “Anytime you talk about your vision and what you are trying to do, I think all of those things are positive, but obviously it is in a negative situation right now,” Jackson said. “We are not doing as well as we would like. We are a 0-12 football team. It is the reality.”
• Quarterback Robert Griffin III on money being stolen from his car Nov. 27 in the players and family parking garage at FirstEnergy Stadium when the Browns hosted the Giants: “Everything’s been taken care of, so I trust it will never happen again.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.