Amari Cooper’s ribs should hold up, but he needs to get into a rhythm with Dorian Thompson first.

Amari Cooper’s ribs should hold up, but he needs to get into a rhythm with Dorian Thompson first.

LOS ANGELES When he enters the field on Sunday to play the Rams, Amari Cooper will be playing in agony, as he has long since proven himself as a player willing to do.

With 8:28 remaining in the Broncos’ 29-12 defeat on Sunday, Cooper departed the game after receiving a strong knock to the ribs from safety P.J. Locke following a brief incompletion to the left by P.J. Walker. X-rays came back negative, which was fortunate for Cooper and the Browns, but he was still in excruciating pain.

Believe he’ll be alright, we’re working through it this week,” Kevin Stefanski stated via video chat on Monday.

Perhaps the larger issue is that Cooper and Dorian Thompson-Robinson need to find their chemistry moving forward, and that might not happen this week with Thompson-Robinson in the concussion protocol.

In Denver, Cooper caught only 2 of 5 targets for 16 yards from Thompson-Robinson before the rookie was knocked out of the game on the second-to-last play of the third quarter.

One was a dropped two-point pass in the back of the end zone, a low ball that Thompson-Robinson blamed on himself but hit Cooper in the hands.

In Thompson-Robinson’s other two starts, Cooper caught 1 of 6 targets for 16 yards in the 28-3 loss to the Ravens, and 4 of 8 targets for 34 yards in the 13-10 victory over the Steelers.

All told, he’s caught only 7 of 19 targets (37%) from Thompson-Robinson for 66 yards and no TDs. His longest has been 16 yards.

A ball also glanced off Cooper’s hands against the Steelers last week and was picked off, which the four-time Pro Bowler blamed on himself.

“I was supposed to have stronger hands there and just catch the ball,” Cooper said last week.

He’s also a hard grader when it comes to drops on the part of any receiver — but Thompson-Robinson has had at least 10 of his passes dropped over the past two games, including six or seven by David Njoku.

“I was supposed to have stronger hands there and just catch the ball,” Cooper said last week.

He’s also a hard grader when it comes to drops on the part of any receiver — but Thompson-Robinson has had at least 10 of his passes dropped over the past two games, including six or seven by David Njoku.

“If you have a drop, that means it hit your hands and you didn’t catch it,” Cooper said. “So, ultimately, you can never blame a drop on the quarterback.”

The long ball to Cooper has been the high point of the struggling Browns passing offense this year, and he recognized their significance.

Cooper can outmuscle most cornerbacks one-on-one, and they more than make up for his shortcomings.

Deshaun Watson and Cooper’s explosive long ball against single and occasionally double coverage was what made them so beautiful to see on the field together. In order to win, P.J. Walker also hit multiple hits to Cooper.

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