Dalvin Cook here to end Jets' Super Bowl drought: 'Very realistic'

As intoxicating and mind-blowing as the view from the top of the Empire State Building was for Dalvin Cook on Monday morning, it wouldn’t match being on Cloud Nine at the top of the football world on Super Bowl Sunday.
Because Aaron Rodgers will be piloting Flight 23, Cook was asked how realistic Jets fans are when they start believing this team can break a 55-year drought and win a Super Bowl.
“I think it’s very realistic,” Cook told The Post. “Obviously you look at the roster, you look at the people we’ve added and the things that we already had, just combining that in one, and I think it’s something to be excited about. We just gotta go out there and do our part.”
Cook in six seasons as a Viking never made it past the 2017 NFC Championship game at the end of his rookie season, which he missed after a Week 4 torn ACL that required surgery. The Vikings lost in the 2019 Division Round to the 49ers and in last year’s wild-card game to the Giants. A chronic shoulder injury often forced him to wear a harness.
In Year 7, he’s expecting seventh heaven.
“That’s why I came, that’s why I’m here, to help any way I can to get to where we need to go, and that’s holding up the trophy, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Cook said.
Cook, a four-time Pro Bowl running back, allows the Jets to ease Breece Hall back following his torn ACL suffered last Oct. 23 against the Broncos.
The Jets' Dalvin Cook visits the Empire State Building on August 28, 2023
“I think the ceiling is high for him,” Cook said. “He’s in a great spot of maturing through the injury and coming out being a better player. I’ve been through that as a young player. Looking forward to him coming back being explosive and helping him each way I can.”
Cook believes the sky is the limit for them.
“It’s a lot when you look at what he can do as a skill set and what I can do as a skill set,” he said.
Best running back tandem in football?
“In my eyes I think so,” Cook said.
Cook has enjoyed four consecutive seasons of 1,100-plus rushing yards, and he laughs and disputes the notion that it is hard for him to believe that he is now 28 years old.
“This thing goes by pretty fast, I’m in Year 7 already. … I’m looking forward to having some better years ahead,” he said.
He will have these next two weeks before the regular-season opener on Sept. 11 against the Bills at MetLife to get into football shape.
“I feel like I haven’t played football in forever so I’m excited. I’m ready to go play,” Cook said. “I know it’s gonna be an electrifying game so I’m ready. I’m ready. It’s ‘Monday Night Football’, so let’s do it.”
NFL running backs are devalued in large part because much more often than not they begin to slow down at 28, which is why the Vikings chose not to pay him $11 million for the 2023 season. The Jets signed him to a one-year deal worth up to $8.6 million.
“My body feels great,” Cook said. “Everything else is gonna take care of itself.”
Cook wanted to play with Rodgers who wanted Cook to play with him.
“Everybody looks at the game differently, just the way he views the game,” Cook said. “It’s just different in his eyes. He’s smart, obviously, he won’t be playing this long and being so successful if he’s learning.
“And I think that’s why the confidence is there for us to go win it.”
The Jets' Dalvin Cook visits the Empire State Building on August 28, 2023
Cook was on the sidelines for the preseason finale against the Giants and was struck by how much fun it seemed for Rodgers.
“That’s every day, though,” Cook said. “The few days I’ve been here, just every day just noticing how he appreciates the game, and I think that’s what comes with a good leader, how you appreciate the game, and everything that comes with it.”
Cook is glad to have the Jets’ defense on his side.
Dalvin Cooks works out at Jets practice on Aug. 17.
“We already know what they bring to the table,” he said. “We’re playing with such a good defense you know you’re gonna get the opportunities to go do what you need to do.”
Cook has developed a reputation as a gamer. For Aaron Rodgers, the more gamers the better.
“I’m just gonna be me,” Cook said. “Gonna be explosive. Come add to what’s already great here. And I’m gonna have fun playing the game.”
There is no doubt in his mind the Jets are a Super Bowl team.
“Yeah, we got the pieces. We just gotta go put it together,” he said.
This was his first time at the Empire State Building. There was no such view in his Miami hometown, or in Minneapolis.
“When you’re up there, it’s just like really nothing to look up to,” Cook said in amazement. “But like the clouds, that’s it.”
Cook rejoins the Jets after leaving town for the birth of his son, Dalvin Cook Jr.
“Life changing moment, man,” Cook said. “Wish I had more words for you but it’s kind of the unexplainable. Thankful he’s healthy and just feel blessed.”
Still on Cloud Nine. Driven to stay on Cloud Nine from now until Super Bowl Sunday.