Dallas Cowboys WR Brandin Cooks hopes to bring a spark of joy in his return from IR

FRISCO — Players will often talk about how it stings to be away from the team when they’re injured. It’s helpless — the feeling of not being able to control the very thing they wish they could.

For Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Brandin Cooks, that sting has been amplified by the venom of a five-game losing streak he had to sit by and watch.

“When you go out there and win, it’s one thing,” Cooks said on Wednesday. “But when we’re losing like how we’ve been, it’s another. It stings a little harder. It makes you want to get back as fast as you can and help as much as you can.”

Cooks will soon have that opportunity.

The Cowboys opened the 21-day practice windows for both Cooks and rookie defensive end Marshawn Kneeland on Wednesday, setting the stage for them to eventually be activated off injured reserve. If the Cowboys don’t activate them after 21 days, then they will revert back to injured reserve for the remainder of the season.

Cooks has been on injured reserve since he suffered a knee injury in the Week 4 win over the New York Giants. He confirmed to DLLS that he opted to have three injections in his knee in New York after the game.

Instead of helping Cooks, the injections led to an infection, sidelining Cooks for the last seven weeks.

Cooks said on Wednesday that he doesn’t regret opting to get the injections to help his injured knee.

“No, not at all,” Cooks said. “It’s the risk you take. Like I always say, I’m about my body. It is what it is. It’s life. Things happen. I don’t regret the process of trying to do what I was trying to do, but you know, I’m back. There’s really nothing to learn from. It was a fluid situation, and it is what it is.”

There’s no guarantee that Cooks will be activated this week, but Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy did seem to indicate on Tuesday that it would be possible.

Cooks hopes that his return can help a Cowboys offense that’s been struggling this season, especially without starting quarterback Dak Prescott, who’s out for the season. Cooks, while dealing with a lingering knee issue, was off to a slow start this season. He had nine catches for 91 yards and a touchdown through four weeks.

“In terms of Brandin being Brandin, I don’t think there will be any question he’ll be ready to play,” Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, “and when his number is called he’ll be ready to make plays for us like he always does.”

“I hope it can help,” he said of his imminent return. “I hope I can bring a spark, not just on the field, but from some of that energy out there on Sundays.

Cooks said that his goal is to help his teammates have a great time and play free. He added that it’s a sight he hasn’t seen recently.

“I think we can go out there and be more joyful in the process for sure,” he said.

Schottenheimer thinks Cooks can have an impact in that area.

“No. 1, it will be awesome to have him out there,” Schottenheimer said on Tuesday. “I know he’s itching to get back out there. I like seeing his smiling face all the time, both in meetings — and the cool thing about a guy like Cooks is that literally, every day, he’s just thrilled to be in the room, on the field, whatever it is.”

Cooks hopes to have a hand in that. He also hopes he can help turn the tides of a Dallas losing streak. That sting isn’t only limited to him.