Will Cook be back with Packers?
He played key role during Packers’ run
— Before leaving the Georgia Dome visitors’ locker room Sunday, Green Bay Packers tight end Jared
Cook stopped to consider next year.
He will become a free agent in March when his oneyear contract expires. Cook proved this season to be another successful free-agent acquisition for general manager Ted Thompson, who rarely signs players outside his locker room.
With the Packers’ 44-21 loss at the Atlanta Falcons still raw, Cook reiterated what he’s said throughout the late season. Yes, he wants to be back with the Packers next fall.
“It would be good to come back and play in a familiar offense,” Cook said, “and learn even more from 12 (quarterback Aaron Rodgers).”
Asked if this was the best offense he’s played in during an eight-year, three-team career, the 29-year-old tight end laughed. “Yeah, no question,” he said.
It isn’t only because of Rodgers, Cook said.
“The receivers around me,” Cook said, “the running backs. A lot of people stepped up in big positions, like Ty
(Montgomery) this year. Then just being around a different system, the coaches, learning from those guys was huge for my development.”
Cook was huge for the Packers’ offense.
His return from missing six games because of an ankle injury coincided with the rise of Rodgers and the Packers. He caught six passes for 105 yards and a touchdown in his return at Washington. The Packers lost that game but won their next eight games to “run the table” into the NFC title game.
It’s no coincidence Rodgers tossed 27 touchdowns and two interceptions since Cook’s return.
“Jared Cook, I think, needs to be near the top of the priority list, the way he played this year,” Rodgers said after Sunday’s loss.
Cook’s return is likely, a source said in December. That was before Cook became a playoff hero for the Packers. His 36-yard catch along the left sideline in Dallas set up Mason Crosby’s 51yard, game-winning field goal, becoming one of the most memorable catches in the team’s recent playoff history.
There was a time Cook’s negotiations with the team might’ve been more interesting. In a prove-it year, missing six games with injury isn’t ideal. Since his return, Cook has shown how different — and better — he makes the Packers offense.
It should be enough for Cook to receive multiple years on his next contract, no matter what team signs him. Even if he was noncommittal about the importance for a long-term deal, Cook craves security as much as any NFL player.
“It’d be nice,” Cook said, “to have a home for a while with my family and stuff, but I haven’t even thought about the significance of that.”
He’d like that home to be in Green Bay. Shields surfaces: Veteran cornerback Sam Shields came from his home in Florida to watch his Packers teammates play in the NFC Championship Game and afterward declared his intention to play football again.
But he also admitted he’s still suffering concussion symptoms stemming from a hit he took in a Week 1 game at Jacksonville.
“It’s just like some days tough headaches, some days it’s mild,” Shields said in foyer inside the Georgia Dome. “It varies. I never know. I’m so used to it now, it’s normal. But it’s getting better. I’ll be back.”
Shields suffered what is believed to be his fifth concussion and after weeks of waiting for his symptoms to get better, the Packers put him on injured reserve. He has spent almost the entire season away from his teammates, spending most of his time back home in Florida.
If ever there was a day the Packers could have used him it was Sunday when Falcons star receiver Julio Jones ripped the defense for nine catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Second-year pro LaDarius Gunter, an undrafted free agent, was assigned to Jones and was no match, even with help from safeties.
Shields would have been assigned to Jones and at least given the Packers someone who could compete with the Falcons star’s talents.
The Packers are going to have to be completely confident that Shields has overcome his concussion symptoms and even then they may decide it’s in his best interest not to let him play. If that were the case, they would have to release him and Shields would be free to play with another team. ‘Sick’ feeling: Mason Crosby could be excused if he wanted nothing more than to see the Georgia Dome crumble to the ground.
Before Sunday, his last missed field goal in the playoffs came in the 2010 NFC divisional playoff game in the Georgia Dome. He had made 23 straight postseason field goals since then, an NFL record.
So Crosby was due to miss one when he lined up for a 41yard kick at the end of the Packers’ opening possession Sunday. Crosby’s kick sailed wide right, and a blowout loss was underway.
“I just pushed it to the right,” Crosby said. “I felt good all warmup, obviously, feeling solid. Really disappointed I didn’t hit that one through.”
One play would not have changed Sunday’s game. And Crosby had plenty reason to be happy with his season. A week earlier, his 51-yard, game-winning kick as time expired sent the Packers into the NFC title game with a 3431 win at the NFC top-seeded Dallas Cowboys.
But the Packers entered Sunday believing they needed to score every possession — or at least close to it — against the NFL’s top-scoring offense. Walking away from their first possession with no points was a significant momentum hit.
“I’m not going to play the would’ve, could’ve, should’ve game,” Crosby said. “The game went how it did. Obviously, my job is to make that kick, and get us points there on the first drive. I feel sick about it. I wish I would’ve put that through.
“I had a great year. This team had such a great run. Obviously, it hurts.”