EAGAN, Minn. – Dalvin Cook has been voted FedEx Ground Player of the Week, the league announced Wednesday.
Cook was nominated after his lights-out performance on Thursday Night Football, which occurred just 11 days after being carted off the field at San Francisco with a shoulder injury. He racked up 205 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries in Minnesota's win over Pittsburgh.
Cook missed tying his career high by a single yard. His 205 yards against the Steelers currently is the highest single-game total for a player this season. His 153 yards over the first two quarters set a new franchise record for first-half rushing yards, surpassing Adrian Peterson's 144 in 2012.
"He was balling," Vikings receiver K.J. Osborn said of Cook. "Dalvin is a warrior, one of the heartbeats of our team. He's a leader, and he's always going to get the energy up.
"We were so happy to have him on the field, back with us again, doing what he does," Osborn added. "That was great to see."
Cook ran away from (pun intended) his competition this week, earning 79.2 percent of more than 50,000 votes on the Twitter poll.
He was up against Seattle's Rashaad Penny, who totaled 137 rushing yards and two scores, and Denver's Melvin Gordon, who recorded 111 yards and two touchdowns.
This marked Cook's first time receiving the award this season.
