What It Means:

Beat writer Jeff Howe notes Cooks lined up outside and even in the slot, where he was particularly explosive and a total mismatch on crossing patterns. Defensive backs simply couldn't hang with the speed demon. Cooks and quarterback Tom Brady also appear well-versed on fly patterns, and Cooks led all Patriots receivers with eight catches in the three practices open to the media. We've seen newcomers struggle to mesh with Brady in the past, but things look good so far for Cooks.

Cooks is coming off a season with 1,173 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns on 78 catches. He ranked fourth with 0.84 Net Expected Points per target out of 41 wide receivers with 100 targets or more in 2016.