Dalvin Cook had career lows last year with the Jets, rushing for 214 yards and no touchdowns on 67 carries and averaging 3.2 yards per carry. The running back calls that an aberration and expects to be with the Cowboys more what he was with the Vikings in 2022.
“I got it,” Cook said, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “It’s right here.”
Cook, 29, had four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and Pro Bowl berths in his final four seasons with the Vikings. From 2019-2022, he averaged 4.7 yards per carry and 86.6 yards per game and scored 46 total touchdowns.
After rehabbing from shoulder surgery in the 2023 offseason, Cook signed with the Jets to back up Breece Hall and play with Aaron Rodgers. It didn’t work out for Cook last season after Rodgers went down with a torn Achilles on the fourth play of the first game.
“I don’t really want to speak on the situation, but when Aaron went down on play four, everything was just a little bit different,” Cook said. “There wasn’t any emergency plan. . . . Aaron went down play four, and it was just kind of like, ‘What [do] we do?’ That’s just what it was.”
The Jets cut Cook on Jan. 2, and he signed with the Ravens. He ran for 23 yards on eight carries in the divisional round game against the Texans.
“When I got to Baltimore, I was ready to go. I was ready to get the ball however many times they needed me to,” Cook said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t get it that much.”
He joins a running backs room with Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, Malik Davis and fullback Hunter Luepke. The Cowboys are planning for a running back by committee.
Cook’s days as a workhorse back are likely over, but he’s good with where he is and what he’s done.
“My résumé speaks for itself to be honest,” Cook said. “But I just had a son [Dalvin Jr.]. He turned 1 a week ago. I have everything to prove to him, to be honest. I owe the world to him. Every day I put on my pads, every day I wake up, that’s my why.”
