Well-traveled tight end feels at home with Raiders
Let go by the Packers, a pass-catcher joins the Raiders and leads the team in receiving in his first season in Oakland.
In a few months, that could be Jordy Nelson’s story line. Currently, it applies to Jared Cook.
Cook, a 31-year-old tight end, departed Green Bay in free agency after the 2016 season and signed with the Raiders, for whom he quickly became a reliable target for quarterback Derek Carr. He had a teamleading 688 receiving yards last year and was second to Michael Crabtree with 54 catches.
This season has reunited Cook and Nelson, the longtime Green Bay receiver who was cut by the team in March. The two were teammates for only one season in Green Bay, but it was enough for Nelson to form a positive opinion about Cook.
“Great player,” Nelson said during training camp.
were disappointed when he left us. I think he wanted to stay but it’s just how, as I just found out, things work sometimes.
“He was huge for us. He did some great things, made some huge plays. You see him continue to grow. And some of us sit here and wonder why he’s bounced around the league like he has.”
Last year’s numbers were not a fluke. In four of his past five seasons, Cook has ranked either first or second on his team in both receptions and receiving yardage. An ankle injury limited him to 10 games in his lone season with the Packers, but he thrived in the playoffs (18 catches for 229 yards and two touchdowns in three games).
Green Bay opted to move on from Cook, as the Titans and the Rams had before them. Now on his fourth team, Cook says the fact he hasn’t found a longterm NFL home puzzles him, too.
“It’s something I’ve wondered my whole career,” he said.
A third-round pick out of South Carolina in 2009, Cook spent his first two seasons in run-heavy Tennessee offenses. He had a career-high 759 receiving yards in 2011, but after his production dipped to 44 catches for 523 yards the next season, Tennessee let him become a free agent.
Cook rejoined his first NFL head coach, Jeff Fisher, in St. Louis and averaged 47 catches and 595 yards over three seasons in offenses that ranked in the bottom 10 in passing attempts. When the Rams left for Los Angeles, they released Cook, who was three years into a five-year deal.
Green Bay offered a passheavy offense, but Cook sprained his ankle in Week 3 and missed six games, finishing the season with 30 receptions for 377 yards. His 36-yard sideline catch in the final seconds of the NFC division-round game against Dallas set up the winning field goal. But even with Aaron Rodgers calling for Cook’s return that offseason, the sides didn’t reach a deal.
“I felt at home in St. Louis and Green Bay,” Cook said after a recent training-camp practice. “But with St. Louis, they were moving, so they had more to worry about than me. Green Bay, I felt at home, but they didn’t see the future of investing in me.”
The Raiders added Cook on a two-year deal to what was supball posed to be a potent passing attack last year but fell short of expectations. Despite that, Cook formed a rapport with Carr, who said the tight end’s NFL transience to date “blows my mind.”
“You guys know I love throwing to Cook,” Carr said. “I’m just glad we have him, I’ll say that. It’s nice to have someone with that kind of speed, that kind of toughness and all those kinds of things playing tight end — especially with who we have outside. He gets a lot of good matchups sometimes.”
At 6-foot-5 and 254 pounds, Cook is what head coach Jon Gruden likes to call a “joker” in his offense, a player capable of moving between positions like tight end, slot and wide receiver. Gruden values versatility in offensive players and said in June he was pleasantly surprised by Cook’s athleticism.
“I did not know Jared Cook moved like that,” Gruden said. “I know he had really good pass-receiving skills, but we can line him up at a lot of different places now.”
In their recent joint practices against the Lions, the Raiders used a lot of two-tight-end sets and saw Cook and Derek Carrier frequently open downfield. Cook lined up wide at times last season but said the offense didn’t always take advantage of size mismatches outside.
“There were a lot of other opportunities where they could have,” Cook said, “but I feel like Gruden kind of has a niche on my abilities and what I bring to the team. And I feel like he’s going to use that to his advantage.”
The Raiders again appear to have the makings of a strong passing game with Carr throwing to Nelson, Amari Cooper, Martavis Bryant, Cook and Carrier. Cook, though, pointed out “we had options last year,” and said the main difference this season is Gruden’s scheme.
“It’s definitely more complex,” Cook said. “I feel like it complements the run game well. It definitely sets up your plays and gets your offensive players in the best position to be able to exploit your mismatches and matchups each week. With the way we run our offense and the way we have guys lined up, it’s hard for defenses to be right.”
In the final year of his contract, Cook knows his situation can change — but he said he sees the Raiders as a good fit, this season and beyond.
“I really like it here,” Cook said. “This year’s probably the most fun I’ve had playing foot“We in a while. Coach Gruden’s really brought a new niche, a new energy here. And I like playing for him a lot.
“It’s somewhere that I would like to see long-term investment. But that’s not for me to decide. That’s up to them to see if I fit their team or not. Other than that, it’s business as usual.”