Eagles WR Riley Cooper returns to practice

Cooper was excused from the team last week after a viral video revealed him using a racial slur at a concert. He was fined by the Eagles and drew harsh criticism from teammates. Cooper took almost a week off to attend counseling and sensitivity training.

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Cooper, 25, was excused from Eagles camp five days ago after video surfaced last week of the receiver using a racial slur at a concert this summer. In the video taken at a Kenny Chesney concert in Philadelphia, Cooper is seen on camera vowing to “fight every [n-word].”

During his excused absence from practice, the Eagles announced that Cooper would receive “outside assistance to help him fully understand the impact of his words and actions.”

The Eagles released a statement on Sunday saying that Cooper was unaware of the video and blocked several people on Twitter who informed him about it. From the team’s official website:

Crossing Broad, the website that originally published the video, said on Saturday that the person who recorded the video, along with several of his friends, attempted to send it to Cooper. Cooper didn’t respond and blocked them on Twitter, leading them to send the video to multiple outlets like Deadspin, TMZ and Barstool.

Cooper has been in hot water ever since a video revealed him using racial slurs at a concert. He was fined by the Eagles and later excused by the team to attend counseling. NFL executives speaking on condition of anonymity believe that it would be impossible for the Eagles to trade him, but that he won’t last long on the free agent market.

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“There’s never been any question of cutting Riley ... Thought it was important for him to be with us yesterday,” said Kelly on Friday. “This isn’t a football decision.”

Cooper has caused a divide in the locker room, leading some to question if Philadelphia would cut him. He apologized to owner Jeffrey Lurie, Kelly and the entire team after the video went viral and has used every opportunity to admit what he said was wrong and apologize to anyone who would listen. But while some players said it was important to get back to work, others expressed doubts that they could be in the same locker room as him even after his repeated apologies.

Goodell explained his reasoning on ESPN’s Mike & Mike in the Morning (via NFL.com’s Marc Sessler), saying that “[Riley]‘s accepted responsibility for it, he has spoken to his team, he has been disciplined by the club, and will go through some training with the club to understand.”

Goodell went on to explain that since the Eagles had already taken disciplinary actions against Cooper, the league would not pursue separate action, as directed under the collective bargaining agreement.