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There aren’t many New Orleans Saints players who have had a stronger December than veteran tight end Jared Cook. In his last four games, Cook caught 11 of his 12 targets to gain 246 receiving yards and score five touchdowns, averaging 61.5 yards per game and a mind-boggling 22.4 yards per catch. That’s as strong a month as anyone has had.
Cook has played 11 seasons in the NFL. He was limited to 14 games in his first year with the Saints (his lowest total since 2016), but his 705 receiving yards were the third-highest of his career. His 16.4 yards per catch on the year are a personal-best, as are his 9 touchdown catches. His 66.2% catch rate is the second-best he’s ever posted (trailing last year’s 67.3%). And Drew Brees was sidelined for five of those games. Together, they’ve been lethal.
And Saints coach Sean Payton is aware of that. He spoke highly of Cook after Sunday’s win over the Carolina Panthers, saying, “He made a heck of a catch today. He’s got a big catch radius. I love to see how he’s playing right now. Last week he had a significant game and a few weeks back prior to going out of the game he already had two touchdowns, so he’s a big part of what we do.”
If Cook can remain healthy — he’s missed time with an ankle injury and a concussion this season — he and Brees might be too strong of a duo to stop, especially in the playoffs. It’s interesting that Cook has only been targeted a dozen times in his last four games; it suggests the Saints are either not dialing up a ton of looks for him, or may be purposefully limiting the number of plays opponents will have to work with in the postseason.
There’s absolutely a situation where Cook gets ten or more designed targets in a playoff matchup, with the Saints planning specifically for him to break out in their biggest game of the year. And that’s an element of the Saints offense that may catch teams by surprise. Payton might be counting on it.
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