James Cook explains his decision to skip Senior Bowl, versatility as a running back

James Cook is typically one of the Georgia players with the least to say. He’s quiet and keeps to himself. Instead, he lets his play do the talking for him. Well, that’s exactly what Cook’s hope was in pulling out of the Senior Bowl. On Thursday at the NFL Combine when a reporter said that Cook’s decision to pull out of the Senior Bowl was to focus on his 40 time, the running back clapped back with his own explanation for why he chose not to play.

“I didn’t pull out of the Senior Bowl just for the 40. I pulled out of the Senior Bowl because I felt like everybody had seen me play on the highest level, and I won a National Championship,” Cook said. “I played a lot of football, so I felt like I’d showcase my talent in the Combine when they expect it.”

That’s absolutely a fair stance for Cook to take given the fact that he played four seasons of College Football against the top competition in the SEC. He described himself as a versatile player capable of doing it all, and the stats back that up. Cook totaled over 2,000 yards of total offense in his career including over 1,000 in his senior year alone. Further demonstrating his dynamic ability, Cook had a game of over 100 yards rushing and a game of over 100 yards receiving in both of his final two seasons at UGA. If there was one game he could pick to show NFL teams, it’d be his performance against Tennessee where Cook had 104 yards on the ground, another 43 through the air and a trio of touchdowns.

“I showcased what I can do running between the tackles and lining up out wide, winning my one on ones and beating the man across from me,” Cook said. “I wouldn’t say I did that by myself. We had a team effort. My team helped me win and I did what I had to do to help my team win.”

Cook said he has met with the Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Francisco 49ers already, among other teams, and plans to meet with his hometown Miami Dolphins before too long. Of course his brother Dalvin plays for the Minnesota Vikings too.

Dalvin is just one of several backs that James watches and tries to learn from. He said that his favorites include Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffery and former Georgia teammate D’Andre Swift.

“I watch those guys and their game and try to steal some of their game and put it in my toolbox,” Cook said.

“I picked up on his love for the game, how he prepares, how he treats his body,” Cook continued, speaking specifically about the time he spent with Swift in Athens. “Just his overall love for the game. What I learned from him is awareness, how he cuts, he makes moves on defenders, how he makes different guys miss. Just kind of having a guy like that in the room was a blessing for me.”

Overall, Cook is grateful for the time he got to spend at Georgia. Capping things off with a win only made it sweeter. He’s back in Indianapolis, the same place the Bulldogs won that final game in January, but Cook is there for a different purpose this time.

“I just took every game and tried to make the most of it, knowing it was my last year,” Cook said. “Knowing I had a purpose for why I came back, and that was to win a National Championship. We hadn’t won one, so we all came back for a purpose, and we wanted to do something special.”

“I’m here for a different purpose,” he added, speaking about his second trip to Indianapolis in a matter of months. “It’s business. This trip is a different trip. It’s to go to the next level.”

KSR’s Nick Roush contributed to this report