MINNEAPOLIS — Dalvin Cook broke free on his 10th play of the game on Sunday, his first action since Week 4.
The Minnesota Vikings running back took a handoff from quarterback Kirk Cousins with under five minutes to play in the first half and carefully read what was unfolding in front of him. Center Pat Elflein had forced Detroit defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson to his left, creating a massive opening between the center and right guard Mike Remmers.
Once Cook saw a hole to run through, he did what he hasn’t been able to yet this season: he exploded, breaking off a 70-yard run, which more than doubled the previous longest rush of his career (33 yards).
Cook was brought down at the 5-yard and set up Latavius Murray for a touchdown two plays later. Though he didn’t reach the end zone on a rush where he topped out at 22.07 miles per hour — the fastest of any ball carrier this season, according to NFL Next Gen Stats — Cook could hardly contain his excitement, running past the pylon and celebrating momentarily.
After more than a month sidelined with a frustrating hamstring injury, Cook returned to action in Week 9 and helped spark the Vikings’ run game in a way it hasn’t been able to all season in a 24-9 win over the Detroit Lions.
Every play mattered to Cook, who exceeded his expected pitch count of 15-20 snaps. In his return, Cook took 10 carries 89 yards and caught four passes for 20 yards. The plan for Cook going into the game was to be involved more in the running game than the passing game, but he allowed the Vikings to ignite their screen game in ways they had not been able to without him.
The frustrations of being held back by his hamstring were a learning process for Cook. His performance on Sunday not only had to have felt good. It signified that Cook is back.
“I’ve been learning through this whole process and I’m just trying to become a better player and better person,” Cook said Thursday. “That’s what I’ve been getting from the whole experience and it’s nothing negative. Yeah, I’ve been injured and banged up. But just learning through the whole experience. Once I get back, it’s going to be on.”
It most certainly was.