BUTTE — Dylan Cook joked that the 42-year-old quarterback whose blindside he's tasked with protecting "doesn't have many more hits in him."
"I just try to do my best to keep him up and onto the next play," said Cook of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Cook, a Butte High product and former Montana Grizzly, has spent the past three years with Pittsburgh and was named the Steelers starting left tackle for the final six games of the 2025 campaign, including the AFC Wild Card game against the Houston Texans.
HEAR FROM DYLAN COOK:
"Unbelievable," said Cook of the experience of starting in an NFL playoff game. "Monday night football too. I mean it doesn't get any bigger than that except the Super Bowl. So surreal. But had to come back down to earth and play football."
Cook was back in his hometown of Butte last week helping out at Colt Anderson's Dream Big Skills Camp. And the message that he brought to hundreds of kids was one of self belief which he says played a huge role in his ascent from a Montana high school football player to an NFL starter.
"It's really important to just bet on yourself," said Cook. "The person you talk to most throughout the day is yourself so you just gotta keep telling yourself that you can do things and keep working toward those things. And the rest will take care of itself."
With training camp looming, Cook will be looking to compete for and resume his role as the Steelers' starting left tackle. But he said he's open to helping out Pittsburgh in any capacity as they get set to head into 2026 with a new head coach in Mike McCarthy.
"I just want to contribute to wins as much as I can, whatever role that is, I just want the team to win game," said Cook. "Should be a good year. We got our leader (Rodgers) back, defense is going to be awesome, every position group is going to be solid. Should be a good year."
