Marcus Cooper Named NFC Defensive Player of the Week

One thing that has been a consistent in the four years of Steve Keim as general manager is Keim finding a player off the streets or someone another team doesn’t want for cheap.

In turn, that player usually makes an impact in a couple of games during the season: Dwight Freeney had a killer stretch of games, John Abraham was a Pro Bowler, Eric Winston had a nice season.

The latest in the “Keim Time” signings or trades is Marcus Cooper, the former Chiefs starting cornerback who was relegated to bench duties then was going to be moved to safety.

Well, after two games with the Arizona Cardinals, and seeing his first action on the defensive side of the ball, Marcus Cooper is the NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

From the team:

This is the first “Defensive Player of the Week” selection for Cooper. The fourth-year cornerback had a career-high two interceptions in Sunday’s win. His first interception came on just his second defensive snap of the season and his second interception was returned 60 yards for a touchdown to put the Cardinals up 33-7. He also had seven tackles and three passes defensed in the win.

Cooper is tied with four other players for the NFL lead with two interceptions this season. He joins Eric Kendricks (Minnesota) and Aqib Talib (Denver) as the only players in the NFL with an interception return for a touchdown in 2016.

This is the first Cardinals “Player of the Week” selection this season. It is the third straight year that the Cardinals have had a “Player of the Week” following Week 2 of the NFL season (Ted Ginn, Jr.—Special Teams in 2014; Larry Fitzgerald.—Offensive/David Johnson.—Special Teams in 2015).

Congratulations to Marcus Cooper.