Jets' Robert Saleh: Adding Dalvin Cook will 'create a bunch of headaches' for opposing defensive coaches
The Jets made it official on Tuesday afternoon, announcing that they’ve agreed to terms with four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook.
The 28-year-old Cook was undoubtedly the most talented player still on the free agent market, and his addition gives the Jets another weapon at Aaron Rodgers’ disposal.
Head coach Robert Saleh was asked on Tuesday what adding a back like Cook, who has rushed for 5,993 yards and scored 52 total touchdowns, brings to the Jets locker room.
“Obviously, very excited to add a really, really good football player to this team,” said Saleh. “He adds another dynamic to this group that I think anybody would be excited about.”
He later added: “As a defensive coach you sit there and say ‘God, you’ve got Breece [Hall] and Michael [Carter] and him, and you’ve got two guys in the backfield. There’s a lot of different things that you can do to create a bunch of headaches for defensive coaches. And he’s not a trick back either. You can turn around and hand him the ball and he can run downhill, and he’s done it for a long time.
“I look at it like our D-line. You can never have enough. You can just let them rotate and be fresh and get downhill and wear people out.”
Even before adding Cook, the Jets had a fairly crowded running back room after drafting Israel Abanikanda in the fifth round. Not to mention, the Jets also welcomed Hall – who had been on the PUP list while recovering from last season’s ACL in jury – back to the practice field on Tuesday, the same day Cook agreeing to terms was announced.
But Saleh looks at this running back depth as a good thing, and he believes the most important part of the process is being transparent with all of the backs about what their roles will be in 2023.
“Nothing that we’ve done is without a plan,” Saleh said. “Even when we talked with Dalvin when he was here, just mapping out the vision of how this running back room would look, talking with Joe and his staff about what our vision would be for Dalvin and Breece and Michael and Bam [Knight] and Izzy and just how that room’s going to shake out.
“So, we have a plan in place. I think expressing that plan to the players was very, very important to make sure that everybody was on board and just being transparent. We’ll always be transparent with the players, transparent with everybody, and I think everyone was pretty comfortable with it, and we’re rolling.”
Both Hall and Carter spoke with reporters on Tuesday as well, and both backs discussing how the level of competition has risen, which should bring out the best in everyone.
“We just added another great guy to the room,” said Hall. “It’s going to be good for competition and it’s going to bring the best out of everybody. We’re all going to work our hardest, we’re all going to work together and it’s going to be fun.”
“I don’t worry about s—t, really,” Carter responded when asked if he was worried about his role changing. “If I’m being honest, at this point, I can’t worry about that, because if I’m worrying about that then I’m out on the field and I’m not getting better. So, the main thing is about getting better. That’s really the only thing that matters, from my perspective. I’m helping the team get better and getting better along the way.”
