Metairie, La. — As the Saints are now just a few days away from their first preseason game of the 2019-2020 season, it’s nearly time to see what they’ve been cooking-up this off-season. One of their new offensive weapons is tight end Jared Cook, who they got as a free agent from the Oakland Raiders in March. He’s had OTAs, mini camp and now 11 practices of training camp over the past 5 months to get on the same page as Drew Brees and the rest of his new offensive teammates. With 10 years of experience in the NFL, Cook knows how to get up-to-speed quickly, and it all starts with his own commitment to training hard and getting in the playbook.
“Preparation is just very important,” Cook said. “There’s certain offensive formations and certain places where you line up where they expect you to run a certain type of route or do a certain thing but it’s your preparation that’s going to get you a little bit extra open, that’s going to add your own savvy-ness and add your own blueprint to that route or to that play that’s going to make a difference between a one yard separation, a contested catch or a 5 yard separation wide open. So it’s just how I approach the game and how I go about it, how I’m learning, how I’m getting the playbook down. I think that’s more important on your growth. It’s on you.”