Jared Cook was supposed to be the answer at tight end for the Green Bay Packers, who have been looking for a big target at that position since Jermichael Finley had to retire due to injury.
It was slow going for Cook, who missed seven games in the middle of the season. He had one big performance against Washington in Week 11, but otherwise had just 17 catches in seven games.
Against Chicago, Cook was in on 40 plays -- a season-high 66 percent -- and made the most of it, catching six passes (on eight targets) for 85 yards. Four of his receptions resulted in first downs, including two-third down plays.
Cook's playing time when healthy has been sporadic, but he might just be a key cog in the final two games as Green Bay tried to lock down a playoff spot.
Some other notes from Sunday's snap counts:
-- Wide receivers Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams each missed just one offensive snap.
-- Yeah, safe to say Ty Montgomery is the Packers' running back. Besides his great performance, Montgomery was on the field for 51 snaps (84 percent). Backup Christine Michael saw all of five snaps (8 percent).
-- Randall Cobb was on the field for 51 plays (84 percent) and was targeted just once. Geronimo Allison was on the field for three plays (5 percent) and had the same amount of targets and he had a reception, whereas Cobb did not.
-- Jeff Janis Watch: 1 snap. His last time in double-digit snaps was in Week 10 against Tennessee, when he had 10. Since having six snaps against Philadelphia in Week 12, Janis has combined for six snaps in the next three games.
-- After being eased into action last week with just eight snaps, linebacker Jake Ryan was on the field for 55 defensive snaps (83 percent). He finished with seven tackles, second-most on the team.
-- Speaking of being eased back in, linebacker Blake Martinez had 14 snaps (21 percent) and had one tackle.
-- Clay Matthews continues to be limited. He had 29 defensive snaps (44 percent) and did not show up on the stat sheet.
Here's the complete offensive and defensive snap counts for Green Bay against Chicago in Week 15:
GAME 14: BEARS (OFFENSE)
| PLAYER | Plays (61) | % |
| Bakhtiari | 61 | 100% |
| Bulaga | 61 | 100% |
| A. Rodgers | 61 | 100% |
| Nelson | 60 | 98% |
| Adams | 60 | 98% |
| Linsley | 60 | 98% |
| Taylor | 59 | 97% |
| Lang | 59 | 97% |
| Montgomery | 51 | 84% |
| Cobb | 51 | 84% |
| Cook | 40 | 66% |
| R. Rodgers | 20 | 33% |
| Ripkowski | 11 | 18% |
| Michael | 5 | 8% |
| Spriggs | 4 | 7% |
| Barclay | 3 | 5% |
| Allison | 3 | 5% |
| Janis | 1 | 2% |
| Kerridge | 1 | 2% |
GAME 14: BEARS (DEFENSE)
| PLAYER | Plays (66) | % |
| Clinton-Dix | 66 | 100% |
| Burnett | 66 | 100% |
| Rollins | 65 | 98% |
| Gunter | 64 | 97% |
| Ryan | 55 | 83% |
| Peppers | 52 | 79% |
| Daniels | 50 | 76% |
| Jones | 49 | 74% |
| Thomas | 49 | 74% |
| Guion | 45 | 68% |
| Randall | 42 | 64% |
| Hyde | 31 | 47% |
| Matthews | 29 | 44% |
| Lowry | 22 | 33% |
| Martinez | 14 | 21% |
| Clark | 14 | 21% |
| Brice | 5 | 8% |
| Fackrell | 4 | 6% |
| Ringo | 3 | 5% |
| Doreleant | 1 | 2% |
Dave Heller is the author of the upcoming book Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow as well as Facing Ted Williams Players from the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns
