New Orleans Saints Tight End Jared Cook
Video Call with New Orleans Media
Friday, December 4, 2020

The last few weeks, you guys have really been able to kind of dictate the pace and the terms of the game so to speak. What goes into kind of establishing that from the opening kick?
"It's just understanding your matchups and understanding what the coaches are asking you to do and executing when you're out there before and during the game, understanding your game plan, how things are switching up for you each week, week in and week out, and understand what the defense is trying to give you. I think those are the most important things and understanding. The biggest thing is to change week in and week out, as long as you understand the different positions that Coach (Sean) Payton is trying to get you in and how they differ, I think that's the number one step for you to be able to execute and go out there and be able to do your job. Then it's playing with a team effort, everybody's on the same page, everybody's on one accord and understanding what you're trying to get done."

You've played with a couple different quarterbacks and you've got a couple guys here that are a little bit different just in terms of the velocity in which they throw the ball, what's the difference for a pass catcher when you're adjusting from one guy to another? What's that process like?
"I mean, it's pretty much the same. I think timing is the most important thing. Understanding when you come out of your break that it's off of that quarterback's timing with his back foot once he's at the top of his drop. As far as catching, we catch from so many different people every day and week in and week out. I think it's pretty much all the same. You just have to make sure that you look the ball in and make sure that you're squeezing and look it all the way into the tuck. I think that's the most important is just concentrating, even though the velocity is different on the ball, it's just concentrating and making sure you look at the ball all the way in."

Taysom Hill talked to us earlier in the week about what he's aiming to improve on. But since he's been kind of working in quarterback exclusively, where have you seen him take strides and kind of make some strides and improvements?
"Just him running the offense in general I think is a big step in comparison to last year. He's done a great job of going out there and getting everybody organized in the huddle, calling the right plays or making the right checks to get to the right place. The biggest thing is allowing a player to just do what a player does best, and not detouring or straying too far away from what he's good at. I think that's the best thing that Taysom has done is just focusing on him, continuing to improve where we need to improve, make the plays that we need him to make and just keep wins coming. I think that's all you can do. It's hard to win in this league, eeven when you have all your starters up it's hard to win. So for him to come in and continue the win streak to get us on the right foot, I think is huge."

You mentioned kind of just getting organized, is that something that we kind of overlook, just how important that is for a quarterback to be able to do?
"Yeah, absolutely. It kind of goes back to what I said before on one of the previous questions and that's week in and week out, your positions change. Every week, you might be running the same play but in a different position. I think that's big for Taysom to be able to realize where everybody is on the field, be able to get them in the right formation when we need them to, even if they line up on the wrong side and being able to recognize that out of the huddle. That's something that plays a big part when you're changing formations week in and week out. For him to be able to do that I think is huge. That's something that's overlooked."

Speaking of improvements, Adam Trautman was called upon a lot last week to help out in the run game with his blocking. How has he developed in that area of his game?
"I think Traut's come in as a rookie and made great strides in doing everything that they've called him to do. It's not only last week, it's been several weeks where Traut has stepped up and taken on the bulk of the work that we needed him to. Because last year, it was just me and Josh (Hill). So me and Josh have kind of taken on a little bit this year, Traut's done a great job of coming in and stepping up and taking on the majority of the reps when we need him to and he's done a great job with it. His knowledge of the game is something that you don't see in a lot of rookies, his understanding of the game is something that you don't see in a lot of rookies. And he's able to come in and pick up on the playbook pretty easy and make great strides and continue to get better each week. Just making plays not only in the pass game, but also in the run game when we need him to."