Jared Cook's first season with Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints didn't go exactly as planned—especially through the first half. New Orleans rolled to 13 wins and boasted one of the league's top offenses, but early injuries to Cook and Brees limited him to just 15 receptions through the first eight weeks.
Cook suffered an injury in training camp which prevented him from getting even one snap in during the preseason with Brees. Midway through his first campaign in New Orleans, the high-prized free agent coming off a career year with the Oakland Raiders in 2018 was still trying to find his footing in Sean Payton's offense.
Once everybody was back healthy, though, Cook's production skyrocketed, and the Saints witnessed the type of x-factor he could offer within their high-powered attack. Over the final eight games, Cook caught 28 passes for 537 yards (19.2 yards per catch) and seven touchdowns, placing him amongst the most productive receivers in football during that stretch.
Now, Cook is trying to build off that strong finish, and thinks those final eight games will make it “a lot easier” heading into the 2020 season.
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“We’ve kind of felt that so far in practice, and hopefully it just continues to get better,” Cook said via Luke Johnson of NOLA.com. “And once the games start, it continues to grow and hits a lot faster than last year.”
“To me and to him, to everybody on the offense, that’s what we pictured,” Saints tight end coach Don Campbell said. “We pictured a guy that we could put out there, and if you try to take away Mike Thomas and you’re going to try to leave somebody one-on-one with Jared Cook, you’ve got a problem, and we’re going to hurt you if that’s what you want to do.”