Cook off to solid start, leading team in catches, yards

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ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Rams expected big things this season from free agent tight end Jared Cook.

And for the most part, he has delivered.

The 26-year-old Cook is leading the Rams this season in both catches (40) and yards receiving (557).

The 6-foot-5, 254-pound Cook has plenty of speed. He's been timed at 4.49 in the 40 and he can leap like a hurdler. The versatile Cook can line up at tight end, in the slot, at wide receiver and in the backfield as an H-back.

The Rams coveted that ability when they signed him as a free agent from Tennessee. St. Louis gave Cook a $35.1 million deal for five years to be another option for an offense that was lacking big plays in 2012.

St. Louis wanted him to be used in the offense similar to some of the talented tight ends in the league such as Tony Gonzalez and Vernon Davis.

In the season opener at home against Arizona, where the Rams (5-7) will play Sunday, Cook caught seven passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

He would have had three touchdowns, but he was stripped of the ball a couple of yards shy of the goal line. Three of catches netted 25 yards or more.

The 141 yards were the most by a tight end in a single game in franchise history. Cook broke the record previously held by Pete Holohan, who had 126 yards on Dec. 11, 1988, against Atlanta.

Cook downplayed the performance.

"The way their secondary played, I just so happened to be open," Cook said.

Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said the Rams took advantage of what Arizona (7-5) was giving them.

"Obviously, he played well," Schottenheimer said about Cook. "They played a lot of man to man and Cookie's got that type of ability that when people want to play him one on one, he can certainly match up and make plays."

Cook's numbers opened eyes around the league. The defenses adjusted. The big game totals from Week 1 have not happened in the 11 games that have followed.

After that debut, Cook's numbers quieted down. Cook has scored just two more touchdowns. He has just one game where he topped last week's 49 yards against San Francisco. He gained 80 on five catches against Chicago. Cook has just three receptions of 25 yards or more in the past 11 games.

"It's tough," Cook said. "They get paid to stop us and they get paid to put in schemes for their players to stop us. Some games you feel like you could have played better. A lot of times, there's nothing you can do about it, (you) just keep pushing forward.

"It's going to be hard to put up numbers like that every week, just in terms of how defenses play against you. You just have to be as prepared as you can and take advantage of the opportunities you get."

Last week's 49 yards gave Cook the most yards receiving by a Rams tight end since the franchise moved to St. Louis. Teammate Lance Kendricks set the previous mark last year with 519 yards. Cook bested that total with 557 yards.

With four games to play, Cook is likely to challenge the all-time franchise record held by Mike Barber, who had 657 yards in 1983.

Cook was unaware he is close to any records.

"That's all good, but ... I still have things I have to improve upon," Cook said. "That doesn't make me satisfied at all. I just have to improve in areas of play. I feel like I could help this team some more."

The Rams like what they are getting from Cook, Schottenheimer said.

"We're very, very pleased with what he's doing," Schottenheimer said. "In general, he's had a really, really good year."

NOTES: LT Jake Long practiced for the first time this week. He left Sunday's game with concussion-like symptoms. ... LB Daren Bates(concussion) and CB Brandon McGee (foot) also returned to practice after not working out Wednesday.
 

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Tight end Jared Cook quietly putting together a solid season in St. Louis


STAN
McNEAL

http://www.foxsportsmidwest.com/nfl/st-louis-rams/story/Tight-end-Jared-Cook-quietly-putting-tog?blockID=969575&feedID=3713

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ST. LOUIS --
When Jared Cook burned the Arizona Cardinals with a record performance in the Rams' 27-24 season-opening victory, it was assumed such efforts would become routine.

Well, everyone knows what can happen when you assume. You also can be wrong.

Cook hasn't come close to matching his seven-catch, two touchdown, franchise-record 141-yard outing in his Rams debut. He made three receptions that went for at least 25 yards in the opener. In 11 games since, he has a total of three 25-yard-plus catches and has scored only two more TDs. In only one other game has he reached even 50 yards.

For someone who was not shy about talking up the Rams' potential this preseason, the season hasn't gone quite as hoped for him or his 5-7 team.

"I don't think it's what everybody in here expected," Cook said Wednesday after practice. "We've had some games we let get away. You just have to deal with it."

And individually?

"It's been about the same," he said. "Some games just got away, some games you feel like you could have played better. A lot of times, there's nothing you can do about it. Just keep playing and pushing forward."

That Cook's numbers have fallen short of his hopes is as much on the Rams as the tight end. After being targeted 10 times in the first game, he has been targeted as many as nine times only once. When Sam Bradford went down for the season, the Rams turned more to a rushing attack. As Zac Stacy has emerged as the focus of the offense, the Rams have averaged 10 more rushing attempts in their five games since Bradford's season-ending knee injury.

"I'm fine with it because we needed that aspect of our game to open up," Cook said. "We needed that running game after those first few games. We saw that you can't pass the ball all game. The Dallas game was an eye-opener (a 31-7 loss during which the Rams rushed for 35 yards). You can't pass the ball 40 times a game and have no run threat. We needed that to get done and now we have it going. It's done nothing but help us."

Cook's job became more difficult in the weeks following his debut. After his spectacular start, defenses focused more on him, which also limited his opportunities. Cook was fine with that, too, as long as others made the most of their chances.

"It's going to be hard to put up numbers like that every week, just in terms of how defenses scheme and play against you," he said. "You have to be prepared and do what you can to make plays when your opportunity is called."

It's not like his season has been a bust, either. Cook leads the Rams in receptions (40) and receiving yards (537) and needs 101 more yards to set the franchise single-season record for tight ends.

"That's all good, but that doesn't make me satisfied at all," said Cook, in the first year of a five-year, $35.1 million deal. "I just have to improve in areas of my play. I feel like I can help this team some more."

Cook, 26, still should finish with career-best in receptions (49) and he also is on pace to surpass his career-best in yardage (759). He has drawn praise from coach Jeff Fisher for his run blocking and he hasn't fumbled since being stripped of the football yards from the goal line in the opener.

With a trip to Arizona up next for the Rams, Cook isn't necessarily looking at a game one repeat in part because the Cardinals figure to pay him more attention this time around. In a conference call Wednesday, Arizona coach Bruce Arians identified Cook as the Rams' "biggest game breaker."

Arizona has improved steadily over the past three months and its defense has climbed to eighth in the league, though it has had trouble against tight ends. Zach Ertz caught two of the Eagles' three touchdown passes in Sunday's 24-21 victory that ended a four-game winning streak by the Cardinals.

"Scheme-wise, they do a lot of the same things but they are not the same team we faced the first game of the season," Cook said. "They're bringing a totally different mentality than they did then. It's not going to be easy."

For Cook, not much has been since his dazzling opener.
 

jjab360

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That's odd considering how many Rams fan posters have told me over and over again about how disappointing Jared Cook has been this season..
 

Alan

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I think it's a mistake to look at only his catches and yards when determining his level of play. As far as I'm concerned he's not come close to playing to his contract. Huge disappointment as far as I'm concerned. His blocking has been especially egregious.
 

RamzFanz

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That's odd considering how many Rams fan posters have told me over and over again about how disappointing Jared Cook has been this season..

It's a sign of how poor our entire receiving squad and Schotty have been.
 

jap

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40 catches for 537 yards over 12 games equates to 3 & 1/3 catches and 44.75 yards per game. For such an athletic TE with a sizable contract, that's not very impressive.
 

rhinobean

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I think it's a mistake to look at only his catches and yards when determining his level of play. As far as I'm concerned he's not come close to playing to his contract. Huge disappointment as far as I'm concerned. His blocking has been especially egregious.
I'm of the same opinion as Albe! Too little effort shown in the running game and blocking for his fellow receivers. Can't make all the blocks but can do lots better at it, IMO
 

jap

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I'm of the same opinion as Albe! Too little effort shown in the running game and blocking for his fellow receivers. Can't make all the blocks but can do lots better at it, IMO

As I pointed out before, the ridiculous thing is he doesn't even have make extremely physical blocks all the time. With his speed and athleticism he can be extremely effective just making screening blocks---that is, just getting in the way of defenders and staying between them and the ballcarrier for a few precious instants. There are NFL TE's who have made part of their living doing just that.
 

RamEERS

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Besides his monster game in Arizona... he's had a lot of up and down games... with his ups not being very high... there's a term in the sports world that we give for these types of people.... oh yeah.. inconsistent...
 

PowayRamFan

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Hasn't really earned his large paycheck so far, IMO. Frustrating that he has only been dominant in one game so far this year because he is such a freak athletically.

Still only 26 years old, hopefully he will blossom.
 

Thordaddy

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I think it's a mistake to look at only his catches and yards when determining his level of play. As far as I'm concerned he's not come close to playing to his contract. Huge disappointment as far as I'm concerned. His blocking has been especially egregious.
Yeah sometimes you think these reporters don't even watch the games.
 

RamzFanz

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Tavon Austin is a better blocker than Cook. If Cook were lighting up the field every week, you'd hear no complaints from me about blocking.
 

duckhunter

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When a reporter uses the term great he means good. When he uses good he means ok. when he says ok he means adequate. When he says adequate he means barely adequate. When he says barely adequate he means they should have no problem finding another practice squad player to improve the position.

Grade creep.
 

RamzFanz

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He really is exactly what they said he was. Athletic and impressive at times but lots of drops and hit and miss production and not a great blocker. I don't get why. Seems like he has all the tools to be great.