Cooks restless with his output
FOXBORO — Despite establishing a foundation that could yield the best season of his career, wide receiver Brandin Cooks isn’t remotely impressed with his performance in his first six games in a Patriots uniform
Cooks doesn’t think his output has matched the work he has put in. But considering his midweek dedication, which has thoroughly impressed Tom Brady, Cooks believes he is close to taking off.
“I think it’s been an all right start,” Cooks said. “My mindset, the way I think about things, it can be a lot better. With that being said, growing every week and every day, and as long as we continue to do that, things will be fine.”
Cooks is all business, which makes him a perfect fit at Gillette Stadium. He impressed with his intellect and study habits, and has a quirky practice technique that caught his teammates’ attention by mimicking a catch at the stem of every route, which he began doing during his three-year tenure with the Saints. It’s a good way to keep focus through each play, even when Brady doesn’t deliver the ball in his direction.
Cooks, who spoke after a longer-than-expected weight-room workout, is in a go-go-go mode during the workday. He plans what he needs to do and how he wants to accomplish it. So that’s why he has been hard on himself as it relates to his production.
“The amount of work I feel like I put in, in my mindset to never be complacent, in a sense to feel like I can be better at what I’m doing,” Cooks said. “Not necessarily what they’re giving me, but personally what I’m doing, I feel like I can be better, and I will be.”
Cooks has 24 catches for 472 yards (19.7-yard average) and two touchdowns in six games, on pace for 64 receptions, a career-best 1,258 yards and five scores. That would ultimately be the second most receiving yards by a firstyear Patriot in team history (Randy Moss had 1,493 in 2007), and it’d be the franchise’s eighth most productive season ever. Cooks’ yards-per-catch average would be the best ever of the Brady era.
Cooks’ long-range ability has already paid dividends. He leads the NFL with four catches of at least 40 yards, and they’ve all occurred in one-possession games so he has been hitting home runs in crucial circumstances.
He is also tied for the league lead with five 30-yard catches and tied for seventh with seven 20-yard catches. And Cooks has averaged 23.3 yards on his trio of third-down receptions.
The 24-year-old immediately shrugged off the rankings and his pace for a career season. First, as he noted, it could be better, partly due to a handful of drops. And second, the brunt of his excitement has been geared toward the Patriots’ 4-2 record, which is understandable considering the Saints were 2-4 through six games in each of his three seasons in the Big Easy.
“Not at all, I really don’t think about (stats),” Cooks said. “My thought process is playing the best I can play to help the team win. As long as we’re winning, that’s all that matters.”
Cooks has had at least 85 yards receiving in four of the Patriots’ six games this season, and his best work obviously came against the Texans with five catches, 131 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner in the closing seconds.
And with the Falcons on tap Sunday, the Patriots can thank the Super Bowl LI losers for sparking their interest in Cooks. The Falcons exposed the Pats’ lack of offensive speed in the title game. That issue was among the Patriots’ offseason goals, and they acquired Cooks, Mike Gillislee and Rex Burkhead in order to get faster in 2017.
So for a host of reasons, there’s no time like the present for Cooks to meet his own performance standards. Yeah, it all looks good on paper so far, but Cooks wants to showcase his wow factor on a far more regular basis — and soon.
“You’ve got to have a sense of urgency,” Cooks said. “You can’t keep saying ‘week by week’ or whatever the case may be. The faster the better. The last thing I want to do is press. At the end of the day, I just want to stick to the process, perfect my craft and pay attention to the little details. And I feel like it’s going to come.”