Some Eagles can't forgive Cooper

Despite several team leaders speaking out in support of Riley Cooper on Wednesday, there are many Eagles - the majority of them African American - that are having a difficult time accepting the wide receiver's apology for using a racial slur, according to team sources.

And there was one prominent Eagle who questioned the punishment - Cooper was fined an undisclosed amount - handed down by owner Jeffrey Lurie and new coach Chip Kelly.

"I'll tell you one thing, if it was Andy Reid, he would have gotten more than a fine," the player said on the condition of anonymity.

Another veteran Eagles player said that he could not get past Cooper using the n-word and that he didn't think he would ever speak to him again.

"The coaches are saying we should think team first, but this is just crazy," the player said. "Was he thinking about the team when he said that?"

Running back LeSean McCoy was the first player to go on record and suggest that he would have a difficult time forgetting what Cooper had said last month at a Kenny Chesney concert.

"I forgave Riley. It's new. Hopefully it wears off," McCoy said. "But at this point, I speak for myself and other teammates, it's definitely different."

McCoy said that he had considered Cooper a friend. He said he had yet to speak with the wide receiver since he stood up and apologized to the team during a meeting at the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday.

"I didn't see too many people speak to him today," McCoy said.

On Wednesday, when the video was first posted, linebacker DeMeco Ryans and several other veterans said they didn't think that Cooper's slur would divide the locker room. Jason Avant did say that there were some players that may need as long as a month to forgive Cooper.

However, another Eagles player said that there is a definite line being drawn between players who were ready to move on after the incident and those that aren't sure if they can forget what Cooper said.

"If he's on the team, he's on the team," the player said. "Don't mean I have to like him."

McCoy said that he was questioning Cooper's real intentions because the slur was caught on tape when he had been drinking.

"When something like that happens, you're like, 'Are you really the same person?' " McCoy said. "It's not a point where I'm [mad] at a person and I'll just say something racial. It's more anger at the person . . . not the race."

McCoy later added: "I was definitely embarrassed. He was one of my good friends on this team, and I felt like it was a manner of thinking that the cameras were off, nobody's watching and that's when a person shows who they really are. And that's exactly took place."

The Eagles said that Lurie made the decision to fine Cooper an undisclosed amount of money. Reid, in the past, doled out punishments, although Lurie was certainly involved. Two years ago, wide receiver DeSean Jackson was suspended for a game when he was late for a special teams meeting.

"In any business, sometimes you have the bosses that are in charge," McCoy said. "Mr. Lurie has done a good job of handling it."

Center Jason Kelce, who was with Cooper at the time of the incident, said that he thinks the players will be able to get over what Cooper said.

"I think especially with core guys that are going to be on the team and that are going to be interacting with him on a daily basis, everyone will eventually get over it," Kelce said. "How that time frame goes for certain people, obviously that word doesn't have the same affect and meaning when I hear as some of the other guys on the team. Everybody is going to be a little different."

There are a number of new players -- free agent cquisitions, rookies - on the team, though.

"I don't know them well enough to get their opinion on it," Kelce said. "Hopefully, as those new guys get to know him, they'll be able to forgive him."