Dalvin and James Cook’s first workouts together: Behind the scenes

By Henry McKenna
FOX Sports AFC East Writer

With Dalvin Cook watching, James Cook turned the corner around a set of cones but couldn’t quite keep his feet in-bounds as he tried to charge toward the end zone. That was the point of the drill, an exercise in bending at a sharp angle to climb the sideline. 

On a field in Miami, the Cook brothers’ hometown, James wasn’t eluding defenders or even wearing pads. He was just working on the fundamentals. And when he got a little frustrated, his big brother jogged over to help him work through it.

“Make sure you sink your hips, chest over knees and work around the cone,” Dalvin instructed. “And go to a speed that you’re comfortable. Once you get used to it, go faster and faster and faster.”

Dalvin, the Vikings‘ three-time Pro Bowl running back, has always been the talkative one. James, who starts his NFL career with the Bills on Thursday, isn’t one to say much. 

“It’s just little things that I say to him,” Dalvin Cook told FOX Sports. “He just gives me that nod, and we go. It’s just a big brother pushing a little brother and just wanting the best for each other.”

Dalvin added: “That’s my little brother, and I love them to death. Give him all the game I got.”

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This was uncharted territory for the Cook brothers. It sounds insane because they are both now pro players, but they’d never worked out on a football field together — not until this summer. Dalvin, 27, was always just old enough that he never played on the same team as James, 22. Finally, they’re on the same schedule. They’re both in the NFL.

In April, the Bills traded up to pick James in the second round of the draft. So James and Dalvin spent the summer together, working with trainer Nick Hicks in Miami. They’ve both known Hicks for years.

“Now it’s like family,” Hicks said. “I can see us training together for the next 15 years.”

Hicks spent the offseason operating not only as their trainer but also as their quasi-running backs position coach. The three drilled everything, from footwork to balance to pass-catching to route-running. Dalvin was there working on elements of his game — and he also served as a veteran influence when necessary. Dalvin pushed James mentally in an effort to prepare him for the longer NFL season. 

“That rookie wall is real,” Dalvin said. 

Meanwhile, James helped push Dalvin, who admitted he’s more prone to getting tired than his younger brother. They drew from each other in different ways with their unique personalities and playing styles. 

The brotherly dynamic was a delight to watch for Hicks, who has known James since he was in seventh grade.

“You’re comfortable getting uncomfortable,” Hicks said. “Because [when] you’re an elite athlete your entire life, everything comes easy, right? Then you get to the point where you’re a one-percenter, and you’re playing with the best of the best in the entire world. So the margin of error is very, very small. And when you’re not good at something you’ve been good at your entire life, it becomes frustrating. But you’ve got to embrace that. And I think that Dalvin has really, really opened James’ eyes to that [this] offseason.”

James spent his college career at Georgia where, in his final season, he had 113 carries for 728 yards (6.4 yards per carry) and seven touchdowns. Equally important to James’ game, he had 27 receptions for 284 yards and four touchdowns. He also returned five kicks for 91 yards. 

Hicks calls James “an Alvin Kamara type when it comes to balance and shiftiness.” James shakes off defenders and keeps churning. Dalvin categorized his brother as a “chess piece,” which is football jargon for a player who has multiple skills. 

If James were a chess piece, he’d be a knight, with the ability to attack from unique angles. There’s something counterintuitive and surprising about his game. He’s a running back, but at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, he’s not like most running backs. He has the abilities of a receiver.

“I’m versatile,” James said. “I can separate myself in the backfield and can line up out wide and … go deep and score touchdowns. That’s what they’re getting in me — a touchdown maker.”

The explosive Cook was sixth at the NFL Combine among running backs in the broad jump (10-foot-4) and tied for eighth with a 4.42 40-yard dash. That time ended up being controversial in the Cook household. As kids, their parents had to peel the brothers apart regularly to break up the fights. They don’t fight anymore. They do talk plenty of trash.

“He started it!” said Dalvin, who ran a 4.49 40 at the 2017 combine. “Because at the combine with his 40-time, he rubbed it in my face on video. But I got drafted higher.”

James’ draft position was also a point of controversy. He was selected 63rd overall; Dalvin went 41st in 2017. They went much closer to each other than most would have expected. Because while James is suited ideally to the passing-centric NFL, Dalvin (5-foot-10, 210 pounds) is the prototypical running back. He’s the queen on the chess board, with the ability to attack from every angle: running between the tackles, running outside, catching the football and protecting the passer as a blocker. 

On his draft day in 2017, Dalvin expected to be picked in the first round, pulling together his family for a viewing party on Day 1. It wasn’t the party he hoped it would be. He was disappointed. When he realized he would have to wait until Day 2, he assembled a smaller watch party.

“I was predicted as a Day 1 lock, and I slipped into the second,” Dalvin said, “When I got drafted to Minnesota, I was like, ‘Where I’m going? What is this? Where is Minnesota?’ And then I started doing all the research that said how cold it was. I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ It was crazy. It was crazy. But seeing the same thing for my brother — it was probably the same thing with him going to Buffalo. Like, ‘Where am I going? Where is it?'”

Perhaps that Day 1 snub was why Dalvin was the most excited man at James’ draft party when NFL Network announced he would be a Buffalo Bill.

“It’s like I got drafted,” Dalvin said.

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James did not seem nearly as excited. NFL Network aired his reaction, which was muted — he looked almost miserable — which led some folks on Twitter to wonder whether he was upset to land with Buffalo. To the contrary, James said he was extremely grateful to land with the Bills. But the running back, who had heard from the team earlier in the day, was waiting for the official phone call from GM Brandon Beane. So after NFL Network announced the pick, James quieted his family to listen for the call.

“[The Bills] called him early, and I was telling him like, ‘Man, don’t let that call go to your head,'” Dalvin said. NFL teams, after all, tend to make promises they can’t keep on draft day. Dalvin added: “Sure enough, they called him back around that time [of their pick] and told him they were going to pick him. Everybody went crazy. Couldn’t even hear the call come in.”

Indeed, when the call did finally come, his family struggled to contain their excitement.

“Knowing that I accomplished my goals of getting to the NFL was awesome, but you know, still have work to do,” James said. “But you know, It was the best feeling in the world.”

Not long after James found out he was a Bill, he told Dalvin: “Alright, where’s the work at? Where’s the ball at?” James wanted to get back on the field with his brother and their trainer to keep drilling away at their skills and preparing for the NFL season. 

James and the Bills open the year against the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams on Thursday. He will start in a committee with running backs Devin Singletary and Zack Moss. The three of them are very different runners with different skills. That’s why they’ll all get the chance to contribute in a super-powered offense led by Josh Allen. 

Because the Bills want their running backs to run more and their quarterback to run less — Allen had 122 carries last year — James should get plenty of work. Not only can he help the team with explosive runs, but he can also serve as a checkdown option for Allen. Rather than the quarterback scrambling to pick up a first down, he should be able to find James open in the flat. And James will make defenders miss and move the chains. 

Surely, James’ mind is on Week 1. And Dalvin will be watching. But they’re also already thinking about Week 10, when the Vikings play the Bills.

Who’s winning that game?

“Of course I’m going to say me,” James said.

“Tell him we’re going to beat Buffalo,” Dalvin said.

Sibling rivalries never die.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @McKennAnalysis.