The long road that he hopes will take him back into the good graces of teammates, coaches and fans has begun for Vikings cornerback Chris Cook.
Cook, who missed the final 10 games of last season as he battled felony domestic assault charges, has been working out at Winter Park since April 20. He spoke with reporters earlier this morning in between workout sessions with teammates.
"Yeah, definitely, I feel like I have to earn [my teammates'] trust again," said Cook, who was cleared of the charges by a jury. "I definitely let them down last year by being in the situation I was in and missing the 10 games. I'm really looking forward to earning their trust and being a contributing factor to the team."
Most people wouldn't be too happy tossing around medicine balls, pulling ropes and running sprints before 8:30 a.m. Cook didn't seem to mind.
"I definitely appreciate it a lot more than I have in the past," he said. "This is what I love to do, even though this isn't the really fun part, It's kind of hard, but I love doing this. This is the part of the year when you get better."
