The Effect Of Logan Cooke's Absence—and Value—Was Evident In Jaguars' Loss To Ravens
The Jacksonville Jaguars dropped their 13th loss in a row—this one against the Baltimore Ravens—in a myriad of ways. They didn’t rush the ball well, they couldn't stop Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and they couldn’t stop the Baltimore pass rush.
But one of the most underrated aspects of the game was the absence of starting punter Logan Cooke. The three-year veteran stayed behind in Jacksonville, not even traveling with the team on Saturday, due to an undisclosed illness.
“If you have those things occur, you have to adjust,” said Head Coach Doug Marrone after the 40-14 loss.
“You’re always prepared for it, just like if you have an injury right before the game, be ready to go for it. It changed a little bit, [we] went back last night after we knew. And then, obviously, we always have a plan that Aldrick [Rosas] would take over those duties.”
Without Cooke, the team turned to kicker Aldrick Rosas and asked him to pull double duty for the day. It went about how one would expect. Rosas isn't a punter, so there's little blame to place on his shoulders there. If anything, it just proved the value of Cooke.
Rosas punted three teams, averaging 36.7 yards a punt. None were downed inside the 20 and none were touchbacks. On average, the Ravens began their drive off punts on their 40-yard line.
Rosas was asked to pull double duty as kicker and punter in Cooke's absence. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Rosas also handled Cooke's kickoff duties and tight end Tyler Davis served as the holder on Rosas' two point-after attempts. Neither of those areas was an issue.
The effect of not having Logan Cooke rippled through Marrone’s game plan and play calling throughout the day. The Jaguars went for it on fourth down three times, converting once.
“I was looking at, the analytics of it for gain of field position, where Aldrick [Rosas] was as far as punting, fourth-and. So basically, we kind of expanded that zone more so, where if you’re looking at fourth-and-6 or less, you have a 40 percent chance of really making it. And if we go more than that, then obviously the number decreases and you’ve got to make some decisions. So I guess my point is, obviously like anything, you make adjustments when things occur,” explained Marrone.
“I can tell you my thought process going into the game. I was, minus-45 and anything fourth-and-5 or less, I was thinking I was going to go for it and be aggressive, depending upon game situations. The difference between me is I look at analytics, understand analytics, but I also look at game situations as well. So I’m a little bit, I’m not straight 100 percent numbers.”
Rosas picks up a high snap fumble before punting it away. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Without Cooke however, Marrone did stick to those numbers. The Jaguars faced fourth down at six different points during the game. As mentioned Rosas punted three times and the Jags went for it three times.
On all of Rosas’ punts, the Jaguars were in their own territory and facing fourth and double digits. There three times Marrone elected to try for the first down, Jacksonville was on Baltimore’s side of the field and facing fourth and five or less. In that way, his plan based on the analytics was helped somewhat by the situation. There were no risky decisions that had to be made, based on the numbers.
If they had arisen, the absence of Cooke would have factored in, as the Jaguars would have been without their special teams star.
In a year that the offense has faltered and the defense has been stretched beyond its max, having Cooke pin opponents deep was a respite, however small. He has a 37% success rate of pinning balls inside the 20 and averages 47.6 yards per punt, with a hang time that has helped the Jaguars coverage team become one of the few strengths among the position groups, allowing an average return of 6.4 yards (10th best in the league).
“Logan’s always been steady for us," Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said about Cooke in November. "He’s always been a good net. He really kicks a bunch of different types of balls. I think you guys are seeing that where he can line it, he’s good at his sky kicks, he has another ball that spins sideways a little bit, so he’s always continuing to work [on it] and he’s also doing a lot of our kickoff duties.
"He always has a really good demeanor, never really gets rattled, can come back if it’s a poor kick because everyone’s going to have those from time to time. But [he] has really been a solid draft pick, solid guy, guy that we’ve gotten production out of and he had a great year last year in the net. He continues to play well, and I think he’ll be a guy that’s in this league for a very long time.”
No word has arisen yet about when Cooke could return or what the extent is of his illness. But as the Jacksonville Jaguars prepare for the Chicago Bears in Week 16, they’ll hope for the return of Logan Cooke and the reprieve he provides.
