Quarterback Connor Cook said his right shoulder feels like it is back to 100 percent strength following a November injury that caused him to miss one game and play with a supportive brace when he returned to the field.
The former Michigan State star has been working with noted quarterbacks coach Georgia Whitfield in California and will travel to Indianapolis this week for the annual Scouting Combine. In addition to agility tests and positional drills, Cook can expect a thorough evaluation of his right shoulder during the rigorous medical checks that are often of the most interest to NFL teams.
Cook declined an invitation to last month’s Senior Bowl, opting to stay in California and train with Whitfield and make sure his arm was back to full strength in time for the Combine and his pro day.
“It’s been gradually getting better and better each week,” Cook told FOXSports.com. “I took it easy the first week or so just because that was my first throwing without the brace. I didn’t want to jump out going gangbusters and have any setbacks. I wanted to get a feel for throwing again without the brace because obviously that’s allowing my shoulder to have full range of motion.”
One considered a potential top 10 pick, Cook has seen his stock gradually slide primarily due to questions about his NFL ceiling and whether he has an abrasive personality that led to him not being voted a team captain at Michigan State. Cook’s in-room meetings with individual NFL teams in Indianapolis will be critical to his final grade as well.
He is currently the No. 44-rated prospect by NFLDraftScout.com and the fourth-rated quarterback behind Cal’s Jared Goff, North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz and Memphis’ Paxton Lynch. Dane Brugler currently projects Cook to go No. 22 overall to the Houston Texans in his latest mock draft while fellow analyst Rob Rang does not have Cook being selected in the first round.
“People can talk to the coaches, my teammates, my past teammates,” Cook told FOXSports.com. “Every one of them would say I was a team leader. I commanded respect every time I stepped inside that huddle. They respected me in the locker room. Talk to any of my teammates. My other thing is, how can you be that successful and win that many games as a team if the quarterback and his teammates aren’t getting along? I don’t think that’s possible. If you have a quarterback and his teammates that don’t get along, you’re probably not going to win a whole lot of games.”
Cook left Michigan State as the program’s all-time winningest quarterback, posting a 34-5 career record as a starter along with a 71-22 touchdown-to-interception ratio.