5 biggest takeaways from the Vikings loss to the Browns in Week 4

Cook needs to be handled with white gloves

Week 2 was really early for problems to start involving the health of Dalvin Cook. Sure, the Vikings were able to get the most out of Alexander Mattison against the Seahawks, but having Cook available gives the team their best chance to win every week.

Sadly, Cook didn’t look ready to come back against the Browns. He was only able to run the ball nine times for 34 yards and catch two passes for 10 yards before he limed off the field and headed to the bench.

Mattison is a good runner, but he offers a different skill set than Cook does. He doesn’t have the speed or acceleration to match Cook, but he is a hard-nosed player who isn’t afraid of contact and can run well inside the tackles.

That said, Minnesota needs to be extremely careful with how they handle Cook from here on out. If they want to have him available for more games, they have to let him get as close to 100 percent as possible and work in more of a running back committee to handle the load.