Dalvin Cook called a ‘warrior’ after second 200-yard game with Vikings | Brainerd Dispatch

The only Minnesota running backs to rush for 200 or more yards in a game are Chuck Foreman, the first to do it in 1976; Adrian Peterson, who did it an NFL record-tying six times; and Dalvin Cook.

Cook accomplished it for the first time when he rushed for a career-high 206 yards against Detroit on Nov. 8, 2020. But more spectacular was when he did it again in Thursday night’s 36-28 win over Pittsburgh at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Cook was returning after missing one game due to a dislocated shoulder suffered Nov. 28 at San Francisco. Entering the week, his teammates didn’t know if he would be able to play, but Cook rushed 27 times for 205 yards with two touchdowns.

“A lot of times, when you’re hurt like that, and you recuperate from an injury, you turn it up another notch so that nobody can touch you,” said Foreman, who was at Thursday’s game. “Consciously, subconsciously, I don’t know. But, boy, he had one heck of a football game.”

Foreman rushed for 200 yards at Philadelphia on Oct. 24, 1976. Peterson reached the milestone a half-dozen times from 2007-2015 to tie O.J. Simpson’s NFL career record. That included a record 296-yard performance as a rookie against the San Diego Chargers on Nov. 4, 2007.

After watching Cook’s latest 200-yard effort, Foreman put the five-year veteran in a category by himself.

“He is, for me, the most enjoyable running back that I’ve ever seen up here,” he said.

Cook reeled off runs of 30 yards, 29 yards for a touchdown and 20 yards against the Steelers. But Foreman said his opinion of Cook is also based upon him being “an every-down back” who also is a good receiver and blocker.

Foreman reiterated that he considers Cook the “best back in the NFL.” And he was impressed even more on Thursday with how Cook gutted it out just 11 days after suffering a serious shoulder injury.

Foreman was hardly alone.

“He’s a warrior,” said Vikings wide receiver K.J. Osborn. “We didn’t know either (if he would play). Earlier in the week, we said, ‘Oh, you’re playing?’ He said, ‘I got y’all boys.’ … We’re at practice in the huddle and he’s testing himself out in the shoulder pad and everything, and people didn’t know he was going to play. Not only did he play, he came out and did what he did. He didn’t come out and get 50 yards and have a pitch count. He was balling.”

Wearing a harness under his jersey to protect his shoulder, Cook got a full workload. He was in for 54 of the 70 offensive plays, and his 27 carries were the most he’s had in regulation this season. He had 29 in Week 6 at Carolina, but three came in overtime.

After Cook was taken off on a cart following his injury against the 49ers, he sat out last Sunday’s 29-27 road loss to previously winless Detroit. He said he started to feel much better while rehabbing on his own when the team was in Detroit.

“They had taken me through rehab all week, so I kind of knew what I needed to do when I got home,” he said. “I got kind of a set up at home, where I’ve been doing all this stuff, and I was just doing stuff at home, and I’m moving around, and I’m like, ‘I feel good.’ And the next day I go in, I tell (athletic trainer Eric Sugarman) how I feel, I see the doc, they test me out.

“The only thing I had to do was go show them my strength was back and everything was back, and I was good. They were still kind of skeptical about it, but they trust and believe that I won’t put myself in harm’s way, to go out there and not be productive for the team. I just commend the coaches for believing in me.”

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said he had a good idea after Tuesday’s practice that Cook would be able to play.

“Very, very tough,” Zimmer said. “Fantastic player. … A really good team leader. I love him.”

Cook is in his second year as a team captain. He has impressed many of his teammates with his willingness to play hurt and still play well.

“Cookie Monster goes wild again,” said cornerback Patrick Peterson. “The offensive line did a great job of creating holes for him all game. … When the Cookie Monster sees cookies, he goes wild. And a football is the Cookie Monster’s cookie.”

Cook missed two games this season with an ankle injury, although he did play in one when he was far from 100 percent. Despite missing three games, he is tied for second in the NFL in rushing with 978 yards and is likely to at least be third at the conclusion of Week 14.

For a while Thursday, Cook was in position to break Adrian Peterson’s NFL record for yards in a game. He had 73 yards after the first quarter and 153 at halftime. He slowed down in the second half, when the Vikings nearly blew a 29-0 lead and bogged down on both sides of the ball, but he did break one Peterson team record.

Peterson had formerly held the mark of yards rushing in a first half, piling up 144 on Nov. 4, 2012, at Seattle.

“That’s my guy,” Cook said. “I watched A.P. before I got here (in 2017), so I’m definitely just following behind his steps. … Catching his records, that’s big. A.P. is a legend in my eyes, and a lot of people’s eyes.”

When the Vikings next play on Dec. 20 at Chicago, Cook likely will join another exclusive club, although this one has four members. Cook, who reached the milestone in 2019 and 2020, is in line to join Peterson (seven), Robert Smith (four) and Foreman (three) as the only players in team history with three or more 1,000-yard rushing seasons.