Dalvin Cook, New York Jets Running Back

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Discover Bank, member FDIC. We continue this at the Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Now joining us from the New York Jets is Dalvin Cook, and Dalvin joins us on behalf of a science-driven wellness company and supplement manufacturer called Thorne. And Dalvin, of course, is a huge advocate for optimizing his health and wellness on and off the football field. To learn more, please visit www.thorne.com.

That is T-H-O-R-N-E dot com. Dalvin Cook, thanks so much for doing this. How you been? I've been great, man.

I've been great. Well, it is Halloween, so I don't usually dress like this. I'm dressed as Connor Stallings, the Michigan Scout that is in the news right now, but take me back to your youth a little bit. Do you have a favorite Halloween costume through all these years? Uh, favorite Halloween costume?

Nah, I'll probably just put on some pads. Something like that when I was younger, that was probably it. Is it cool now, especially when you're in Minnesota, now coming over to the Jets? I'm sure when you're in Minnesota, a bunch of kids dressed up as Dalvin Cook when you were playing for them. Is that pretty neat to see? That's cool, man. That's what you do it for, like to shed that positive light. Halloween, come around, see a kid with your jersey on or something.

That's what you do it for. What's your favorite candy, by the way? Tootsie Roll. Oh, nothing like a good Tootsie Roll.

I'm a Kit Kat guy or a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, but I could go with some Tootsie Rolls. Dalvin Cook here with us. Let me start you off with your old team, and then we'll get to the Jets. Unfortunate news this past week with Kirk Cousins going down for the season. Torn Achilles, you know him well. Just when you saw that after your game, how'd you kind of react to it? You know, it's always bad when a player, any kind of player gets hurt in his league because you put so much into the game as far as preparing.

You know, just working and just putting yourself in position to go perform, and then you get bad outcomes like that. Kirk is one of the greatest human beings I've been around my entire life, so I sent my love out to him. He's like a brother to me, so I hope you heal up fast and get back on the field.

And you know what it's like to have to leave one home and start off in a new place. It is the final year of Kirk Cousins' contract. Do you kind of feel like that's it for him in Minnesota, or could there be a chance for a reunion next year? I don't know, man. Curtis Cooper in his league, he just racked the numbers up. That's what he do, man.

He's a winner, and just being around him and playing with him, I just think he has a great relationship with the organization, and they understand who he is and how to win football games with him, so I don't know. Dalvin Cook here with us from the Jets. This has got to be an interesting and a little bit of an awkward day for you. Your name's getting thrown in a bunch of trade speculations. It's trade deadline day right at 4 p.m. Eastern. Just how has this day been like for you? Another day. Another day for me. I love where we're at as a team.

I'm just grinding, man. I let the business handle the business, and you know, I handle the grass, and that's just how I approach it. You guys are four and three, and that's without Aaron Rodgers going down four games into the season, so it shows the talent that you have on this team. You being a new guy, even though you've been in the league for a while, what has stood out with you with this Jets squad through the first seven games? I think the mindset of don't flinch. You see some of the games we be in, it'd be close games, but when it comes down to it, you know, the few games we did lose, it was right at the end, and we just got that don't flinch mentality. You know, we could be playing a certain way, come halftime, and then, you know, here we come.

Like, we ready to come in to what we need to do, so it's a don't flinch mentality, and I think that's the that's a good mindset to have as a unit. Who is Zach Wilson as a quarterback, and how would you kind of describe him? He's Zach Wilson. He brings that swag, that, you know, his mentality, his way of playing football, and I think it's been good for us, you know, once we, you know, get rolling for him and start making plays, but we get into a rhythm, and you see the type of ball you can play at a high level, but he plays his style of game, and, you know, that's who he is. It wasn't that long ago that you just got into the NFL, and you immediately got to a pretty elite level. You look at Breece Hall. He was going to win Rookie of the Year last year before getting hurt, and he's come back stronger than ever.

You knowing what it takes to be a great running back in this league, what has impressed you so far with Breece Hall? I just think his mindset, just putting it behind him. We're going to, we want to play at Denver, and that's when he had the big run.

I think that was the field he got hurt on. Just putting that, just putting that behind him and just going out there and just playing ball. I think that's what it comes down to. You know, I had my ACL injury, and that was the only thing getting you over the hump was your mindset. Like, all right, I put the work in. I put the time in. All right, let's go to play football.

I think he got that in his mind. He's just, he's just playing ball. You know, we're similar ages, and we're not old heads, but in the NFL, you're considered now a veteran in this league when you talk to a younger player like a Breece Hall, knowing what it takes, just what kind of advice do you give him? Just trust, just trusting yourself. You know, in this league, you put a lot into the game, and the part off the field where it's you in the weight room, you putting the time in the field room, you doing all the work that you need to do to lead up to game day to be successful.

So, like, you know, trust yourself and just go turn it loose, and that's just the best advice I could give anybody. What kind of player are you still? Because this is the first time really in your career after some sustained success where people are wondering how much more football do you have left in you? I'm me. I'm Davin. My brand of ball is my brand of ball.

You know, you cut the tape on. It's what you need to see, and I'm still that guy, man. This opportunity is coming. I'm gonna be ready to go.

Is that difficult for you? Because you're not getting that many opportunities with the success of Breece, and I know that you're a competitor. I know that you're hungry, but you have all these people saying, oh, Dalvin Cook is washed up. Oh, Dalvin Cook's not great anymore, and you still feel like you're the same back that we just saw a year ago in Minnesota, right?

Yeah, nothing's changed. Same mindset, same grind every day. Like I said, opportunities coming, and I'm gonna be ready to go, but you can't let other people opinion no waiver how you prepare for the test, and I prepare the same way, and I'm just ready for opportunity, and that's it. When the deadline comes today, in a little bit at 4 p.m. Eastern, if you don't get traded, how would you react to that? Like I said, tomorrow I'm gonna wake up, and I'm gonna go to work.

That's just what it is. Like I said, I like our situation. I like where we're at. I'm a firm believer of things don't play out how it's gonna play out. Like I said, you cannot never be ready for the test, and I'm gonna be ready for the test. So this isn't a situation where if you don't get traded, you're happy.

Like you said, you're not asking for a release or anything like that. Yeah, I wake up and enjoy going to work. The day I stopped doing that, that's the day I stopped playing football. My body's ready to go. My mind's ready to play.

Yeah, I wake up and I enjoy going to work. Let me get to your guy, your quarterback, the guy who's supposed to be the starting quarterback this year, unfortunate injury with Aaron Rodgers. You guys were adversaries for all those years, now on the same team. To just see him on the field before the game, not that long removed after tearing his Achilles, and he's dropping back, and he's saying he's gonna come back this year. How do you kind of view that, knowing what he's been through? Yeah, you know, it's crazy.

I'm sitting right here watching the Pat McAfee show, and I just seen the video for the first time. Like of him dropping back and putting weight on his leg, it's impressive, man. Like, especially a guy of his age, but you just know the way Aaron takes care of himself and the way he goes about his business. You know that he's serious about what he's saying, so now you're kind of seeing the results.

It's a great vibe, man. That's good to see, man. And like I said, that's our leader. You know, to see him in good spirits, to see him, you know, aiming to get back with the group is good. So when he says that he plans on playing and he's not ruled that out, a lot of us go, oh, that's not possible.

I guess he is one of one. Do you fully expect Rodgers at some point this year to be running out on that field on MetLife Stadium and taking snaps and playing? I think a lot comes with that.

I think we got to be in the position to go do something as a unit. I think you got to be comfortable enough to come back and, you know, do what he needs to do and beat Aaron. You know, everybody knows the way Aaron played a game, so I think there's a lot coming with that.

But like I said, he's one of the goats, so you don't rule them out. All right, Dalvin Cook, before we let you run, tell me more about the work that you're doing with Thorn. Once again, www.thorn.com. That's T-H-O-R-N-E is how you spell Thorn. Dalvin Cook, the floor is yours. Yeah, I think just me as a Premier athlete, just putting the right things in my body, putting myself in position to go perform each and every day and how I prepare myself to go train. So I think Thorn has some of the best supplements and some of the best things you can do to put in your body.

So, you know, that's where we're at with it now and I think, you know, they're one of the companies that you, you know, need to look into. Dalvin Cook, enjoy the rest of the day. We appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this. Be well. Appreciate it, bro.