After trading for Aaron Rodgers and setting the bar impossibly high, the New York Jets added more firepower in the form of Dalvin Cook on Monday. And this isn’t necessarily the best development for one particular Jets player.
On Sunday, the day before the Jets added a Pro Bowl-caliber running back like Cook, New York backup Michael Carter was asked for his honesty. Carter told the New York Post that he admires Cook as a star runner and receiver but, in essence, that he and other Jets players are not insecure about him potentially taking any of their jobs.
With Cook joining Gang Green just about 24 hours later as a high-end No. 2 at worst, Carter’s timing of these comments couldn’t have been worse.
More from the New York Post:
“We ignore it. Talk is cheap,” Carter said of Cook talk on the Jets. “Dalvin’s [Cook] a great player. Dalvin’s probably one of the best college football running backs of all time [at Florida State], in my opinion growing up in north Florida. He’s a really good player.”
“At the same time, we feel like we’re great players, too. We’re just young in our careers. We’re all chasing greatness in terms of team and personal goals. Nothing but respect for [Cook], but we’re not really focused on that. We’re just trying to get better and grind.”
Truthfully, that is a professional answer from Carter. It’s paying respect to a talented player at his position while also admitting there’s nothing he could do about the Jets cutting into his playing time with someone like Cook. And even then, if he did show some confidence, that is more than welcome. What else is he supposed to say?
That said, the turnaround of Cook’s signing after Carter’s confidence is brutal. Like a cartoon anvil dropping to the sidewalk. He will undoubtedly lose playing time to Cook even if the former Minnesota Vikings star doesn’t take Breece Hall’s starting job outright. In Hall’s absence, Carter was a fine contributor to the Jets’ offense last year. He’s just simply not as versatile or talented as Cook to justify being more than an RB3 in a logjam of a backfield.
But hey. At least, Carter seemed self-aware of the reality.
