Cooks submits ridiculous catch during scrimmage, Brady loves it

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FOXBORO -- Perhaps the play of the day at the Patriots' intrasquad scrimmage on Friday was a long Tom Brady completion to Brandin Cooks. Those kinds of connections haven't been all that unusual early on in training camp, but what made the Cooks play so impressive was that he reeled it in over his shoulder and held on despite Stephon Gilmore's arm being wedged between Cooks' body and the football. 

Cooks held on somehow for a gain of about 50 yards, and the "White" squad was suddenly in scoring range. 

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"That was a great catch," Brady said after. "I tried to draw them offsides and we got them. It was kind of a free play. I think I've seen some other teams do that. To make a 50-yard play, or however far that was, was a big play. Those are the kind of plays we need.

"If we can build those things into our offense, and then make some of those down-the-field plays, that takes more pressure off of other parts of the offense. Certainly when guys are making plays that far down the field, [defenses] have to cover, and they have to respect it. I've always said that I try to throw it where they're not. If they're deep, you throw it short. If they're short, you throw it deep. If they're outside, you throw it inside . . . That was a great example today of what we're trying to do."

Cooks' presence on the roster could spark a more concerted effort to create those kinds of chunk plays Brady's talking about. The Patriots had a pair of efficient deep threats last season in Chris Hogan and Rob Gronkowski (when healthy), but Cooks has another gear when it comes to his straight-line speed. 

Brady indicated that his relationship with the newly-acquired wideout is in its nascent stages but is already off to a strong start.

"He's been just . . . He's been great," Brady said. "So fun to be with, so fun to work with. Comes in every day with a great attitude and wants to work hard and is unselfish. Been out here every day practicing and working on different things.

"He and I are working up a rapport, but that takes a long time to build . . . We're working hard at it. We're talking about things. There are a lot of things that go on to try to improve the learning curve. But he's so much fun to be around. He really adds to a great group of other receivers that I've been fortunate enough to play with for a long time."

With Hogan, Julian Edelman, Malcolm Mitchell and Danny Amendola all sitting out of Friday's scrimmage Cooks saw plenty of work alongside Brady. Once Brady went off for the second half -- giving way to Jacoby Brissett -- so did Cooks. 

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