Brandin Cooks remembers working on his speed at seven years old.
At the NFL Combine, he clocked a 4.33 in the 40-yard dash.
In fact, Cooks now joins three other Houston Texans receivers who also run a sub-4.5 40-yard dash, Will Fuller V, Kenny Stills and Randall Cobb. But the six-year veteran wide receiver who has played in two Super Bowls, one with the New England Patriots and one with the L.A. Rams, hopes he can bring more than just his speed to the Texans 2020 offense.
"First off, there's a lot of speed on this offense already," Cooks said in his Thursday press conference. "Usually I can say that, but you've got guys that are able to blow the top off from every single position in this offense. I think from a bigger standpoint, just a leadership role, just the way that I go about the game and my process, just being a veteran voice in that room with the special guys that are all the way around. I've been blessed and fortunate to play with such special quarterbacks. I look forward to just sharing that knowledge that I've learned from them with guys in the locker room."
Cooks, traded to the Texans from the Rams on April 10, will be catching passes from Deshaun Watson, a quarterback he says, "can make any single throw." Throughout his NFL career, Cooks has had the luxury of catching passes from three Super Bowl quarterbacks, Drew Brees and Tom Brady, as well as the NFL's 2016 No. 1 overall draft selection, Jared Goff. Cooks, who has caught 34 receiving touchdowns and rushed for two in his NFL career, hopes to bring that experience with him in developing chemistry with Watson.
"I mean, come on now," Cooks said, smiling."You tell any receiver that you play with those four quarterbacks, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't complain at all. You know, I learned something from each one of those guys. And I'm extremely blessed to be able to implement that, not just into my game, but also my process and how I go about my everyday life on and off the field."
Through 88 career games with 76 starts, Cooks has caught 402 passes for 5,730 yards, averaging 14.3 yards per reception, scoring 34 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 281 yards on 46 carries and two scores.
