amari cooper.jpg

Oakland Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper catches a touchdown pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during an NFL game on Oct. 30, 2016, in Tampa, Fla.

(AP Photo)

In his previous game against the Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper had eight passes thrown his way. He didn't catch any of them. The Dec. 13 game is the only one of the 22 in his NFL career in which he didn't have a reception.

The former Alabama All-American was dealing with a foot injury at the time of last season's game.

This season, Cooper rolls into Sunday night's game against the Broncos with 52 receptions for 787 yards halfway through his second NFL campaign. His receiving yardage ranks third in the NFL (with another former Crimson Tide standout, Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons, at the top of the list).

With Michael Crabtree, Cooper forms the most productive wide-receiver duo in the NFL. They have 99 catches for 1,356 yards and eight touchdowns between them.

That doesn't impress Denver safety T.J. Ward.

"I feel like they have two good receivers. I don't feel they have two elite receivers," Ward said last week. "So we have two elite corners. We have three elite corners, and that's their job. So I think we'll be all right."

Except the Broncos' don't have three elite cornerbacks - at least not for this game.

While it's true Denver leads the NFL in passing defense this season, three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib won't play on Sunday night because of a back injury. Reserve cornerback Kayvon Webster will miss the game, too, with a hamstring problem.

Talib didn't play in last week's victory over the San Diego Chargers, either. His replacement in the starting lineup, Bradley Roby won the AFC Defensive Player of the Week Award.

"We have the best secondary in the National Football League, not because of the starting cornerbacks, but because of the depth that we have," Denver outside linebacker Von Miller said. "We got Bradley Roby, Lorenzo Doss, Taurean (Nixon), Kayvon Webster -- all these guys that can come in and contribute. ... It's still the No Fly Zone."

Cooper will attack the Denver secondary coming off the most productive game of his NFL career. In Oakland's 30-24 overtime victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, Cooper set personal bests with 12 receptions for 173 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown reception.

The performance was his fourth game this season with at least 120 receiving yards and the seventh of his career. Only two players in NFL history have had more 120-yard receiving games in their first two seasons - Odell Beckham Jr. with 12 and Randy Moss with 10 - and Cooper still has eight games remaining in his 2016 campaign.

Cooper is listed on the Oakland injury report as questionable for Sunday night's game after being a limited participation in practice last week because of a back problem. However, reports out of Oakland on Sunday indicated the Raiders don't expect Cooper to have any health issues against the Broncos this time around.

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The Broncos and Raiders kick off at 7:30 p.m. CST Sunday in Oakland. NBC will televise the game.

The teams are tied for the top spot in the AFC West with 6-2 records.