Next man up
With Fuller’s season over after suspension, WR in line to get more opportunities in his first season with team
With Fuller done, Cooks looks to have bigger role as Watson’s top target.
The budding relationship between Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson and veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks keeps growing in importance.
Especially on the heels of Will Fuller’s six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy. One of the most dangerous deep threats in football, Fuller became Watson’s favorite target after the Texans traded DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona in the offseason.
That means Cooks, one of the fastest players in the league, emerges as the primary target of Watson’s throws.
After Cooks was acquired in a trade from the Rams for a second-round draft pick, he didn’t get to catch many passes from Watson during the offseason dubecause to the coronavirus pandemic eliminated formal team activities. Cooks and Watson have been slowly building their chemistry, and Cooks ranks second on the team behind Fuller in every receiving category.
“I think that’s a great point,” said Cooks, who had some informal workouts with Watson on the West Coast in the offseason. “Without having those offseason and the OTAs and stuff like that, it obviously presents a challenge. But I think we’ve been doing a good job of just continuing to build that rapport every single week through practices and games.
“I think we got a longway from just being able to be that great connection together. I think that says wonders because what we’ve been doing this latter half of the year has been great.”
With 52 receptions for 719 yards and three touchdowns, Cooks has rebounded from a slow start and is on pace to finish the season with 75 catches for 1,045 yards. He has totaled nine receptions for 170 yards over the past two games, a pair of victories, on 10 targets.
Watson isn’t expected to dramatically increase Cooks’ involvement, but he’ll definitely be looking his way. Without Fuller, Cooks is the fastest receiver on the roster with a 4.33 time in the 40-yard dash.
The Texans like Cooks’ explosiveness, character and experience. Andhe has remained healthy this season, absorbing some big hits with no recurrence of past concussion issues.
“Brandin’s going to be the same guy,” Watson said. “We don’t want him to go change and try to do too much. Just be the same guy and control what he can control. He’s going to do what he does. As long as he’s healthy and out there on the field, he’s going to produce.
“He’s going to make the strong catches and be able to make big-time plays for us. He’s going to have a bigger role and opportunity to lead the guys in that room and keep this offense going as what we tend to see it as: going north and getting better each week. That’s all we ask for him, and he’s going to continue to do his job.”
Cooks had a breakout game against the Jaguars in October as part of the Texans’ first victory of the season. He caught a seasonhigh eight passes for 161 yards and one touchdown.
Coming off a career-low 42 catches for 583 yards and two scores in his final season in Los Angeles, Cooks initially raised concerns with his slow start.
The timing was rough between Cooks and Watson during the first four games of the season. The receiver caught just 10 passes for 138 yards and no scores on 21 targets.
“It’s spending time and also spending time in the film room,” Cooks said. “At the end of the day, those live reps is what really matters, and I think we’ve been getting more and more of those. The more we get, the better we’ll become together.”
In 11games before he opted not to appeal his positive test for a banned substance, Fuller caught a career-high 53 passes for 879 yards and eight touchdowns as Hopkins’ primary replacement.
“It’s huge losing a guy like that, the type of guy that he is for our locker room,” Cooks said. “But also on the field, you’re talking about a dynamic player. He’ll definitely be missed.
“The biggest thing I told the other guys that’s stepping in is just be who you are. Have that confidence, practice hard, and typically that leads over to the game. Don’t try to do anything out of the ordinary. Just do your job the best way that you can and let everything else take care of itself.”
Playing under a five-year, $81 million contract the Texans acquired from the Rams, Cooks has no guaranteed money inhis deal after this year. He has nonguaranteed base salaries of $12 million in 2021 and 2022 and $12.5 million in 2023.
The Texans are expected to explore restructuring and possibly extending Cooks’ contract to create additional salary cap space. Fuller is a pending unrestricted free agent the team wants to retain, but it will be extremely expensive.
Cooks would like to keep their partnership going beyond this interrupted campaign.
“He’s on the quieter side, but our relationship has grown from the moment I’ve stepped in until now,” Cooks said. “I love that guy. He’s like a brother tome already with the short amount of time that we’ve spent together. A lot of respect for what he has done and who he is.”
Hampered by a quadriceps injury during training camp, Cooks, once fully healthy, showed what he can do. Against Jacksonville, he generated his most receiving yards since a 186yard game in 2016 when he was playing for the Saints.
Cooks caught all five passes thrown to him for 85 yards in a Thanksgiving win at Detroit as Fuller finished with seven catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
“I’m expecting Brandin to come out and play just like he did last week: Come out and battle and be really detailed,” Texans offensive coordinator Tim Kelly said. “Come out and run really fast and play really strong, which he’s done a good job of throughout the season. I’m expecting Brandin to continue playing at the level he’s been playing at.”