Highlights from FOX NFL – Week 11
LOS ANGELES – Week 11 of the 2020 FOX NFL season kicked off today with a doubleheader slate beginning at 1:00 PM ET and concluding at 4:25 PM ET with AMERICA’S GAME OF THE WEEK featuring Green Bay at Indianapolis. Also included in the NFL on FOX lineup today at 1:00 PM ET: Atlanta at New Orleans, Philadelphia at Cleveland and Detroit at Carolina. The additional 4:25 PM ET matchup features Dallas at Minnesota.
Earlier today, FOX NFL KICKOFF and FOX NFL SUNDAY analysts and NFL insiders weighed in on the day’s biggest games, moments and storylines.
In addition, Shannon Spake had a conversation with Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook regarding his exemplary split-second decision making with the football, while Michael Vick spoke to Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones on growing up with military parents and how those experiences influenced his career.
Long on Chiefs-Raiders
Johnson on Seahawks
Strahan on the Browns’ Running Game
Schrager on Saints and Raiders
SHANNON SPAKE’S ONE-ON-ONE WITH DALVIN COOK
Spake: Dalvin, you know every time I see you, I call you 305. South Florida, right? The connection, South Florida. But I know that your real nickname is The Chef, so I’m representing for you here today. What do you think?
Cook: “I love it. You are cooking right now, so we are good.”
Spake: Some of these hits that you’ve laid on the defenses, Dalvin, I mean, you can hear them outside the stadium. How much do you physically feel those hits?
Cook: “Yeah – It’s not bracing for contact, it’s being ready for it. I think people don’t know the difference. You know, some people brace for it, and they think they’re ready for it, and that’s when you kind of take the big blow. But me, I don’t brace for it. I’m just ready for it, and I’m ready to react and make a move or if I have to deliver it, I’m going to deliver it.”
Spake: Something else that stands out is your footwork, and I spoke with you about this. You told me that, growing up, you had to play football in the backyard.
Cook: “Yeah, a lot. I remember playing at my grandmother’s house. It was a concrete court and then we had this little grass. I could tell you, no lie, it was small. It was nothing but dirt and rocks and, you know, you took your licks out there. And I was playing out there with my older brothers and older cousins and, you know, I’m making moves on them.”
Cook: “It’s the same thing when you translate it. Just play in the backyard. Get the ball in your hands and make a play. And that’s what I try to do, take this thing back to when I was younger, having fun with the game. I’m here today, but I always know my roots of what got me here.”
Spake: Some people, I think they look at you, and they say that you’re a modern day running back, right, because you catch the ball, you run the ball. Some people say you’re a bruiser, you are old school. What would you say you are?
Cook: “I haven’t put a finger on my game yet. I don’t know my game. Whatever is asked of me, catching the football, pass protecting, route running, I just think I’m today’s running back.”
Spake: Well, Chef 305, I appreciate your time. Next time, we’ll get you a shirt, and we can be twins while we’re doing this interview.
Cook: “I appreciate it. You made my day with that shirt.”
MICHAEL VICK’S ONE-ON-ONE WITH AARON JONES
Vick: You’ve got your own cereal, the Touchdown Squares.
Jones: “This is every kid’s dream. You dream of being on Wheaties. I like to think of the end zone as my crib, so I thought it was catchy for the Touchdown Squares.”
Vick: You’ve really got a nose for finding the end zone. Is that more mental or physical, you think?
Jones: “I think it is a mentality. If it was up to me, every time I touch the ball, I would try to take it to the house.”
Vick: What’s it like playing for Aaron Rodgers? Because it seems like you two have a great relationship. You know, what’s he like on and off the field?
Jones: “He’s a true leader and I’m blessed to even get the opportunity to work with him. My first time running on the field, it was Week 4 my rookie year, hadn’t taken an offensive snap. Two backs before me went down and I ran on the field and he said. ‘I want you to know I’m one of your biggest fans in this organization.’ It just caught me by surprise because at the time I hadn’t really talked to A-Rod much and, you know, as a rookie coming in, for him to tell me that, it just did a lot for my confidence and it just made me go play at a high level.”
Vick: I always refer to you as one of the most versatile backs in the league. Let me ask you this. What do you think is your greatest asset as a football player?
Jones: “I think just playing the game with my heart and just being versatile. I love to compete. Just being out there with my teammates, my brothers, you know, you go through all this work, you put in all this work for so long. So to get out there, that’s when it’s time to have fun, when you step on that field.”
Vick: Just switching gears on a more personal level, you grew up in a household with two parents in the military. What did you learn from that? And how did you apply that to your career?
Jones: “I learned commitment, sacrifice, dedication, how to adapt to things quickly, how to overcome adversity. I’ve gotten to see a lot of different cultures, so I feel like I can really communicate and talk to anybody.”
Vick: I see you sporting sombreros all the time. What’s the story behind it?
Jones: “So I moved to Texas in 7th grade, El Paso to be exact, right there on the border. It’s just a little representation of them, taking the city with me everywhere I go and they love it. Everybody loves it.”
