Connor Cook politely declined an invitation to come to the Senior Bowl. Instead, he elected to go to San Diego to work out with quarterback guru George Whitfield.

But even though he’s on the other side of the country, Cook remains a major storyline in Alabama. Michigan State players like Aaron Burbridge and Darien Harris have been vocal about their support of Cook, saying that all the negative press around him makes no sense.

Others went a different route.

When Cook turned down the Senior Bowl, he said that it had nothing to do with his shoulder and that he was 100 percent. If that was the case, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said Cook’s move could cost him come April.

“I think it was an ill-advised decision. This was a big opportunity that he kind of gave away here,” Jeremiah said to NFL.com. “When you look out here, to me, Carson Wentz is the class of the group, and he could have come out here and competed against him, try and size up and really help himself and show his competitiveness.

“Now, there have been a lot of quarterbacks to not show up here. Where you feel you’re slotted has something to do with that decision, and I don’t know that he was slotted high enough as of this week to avoid it.”

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NFL draft expert Mike Mayock agreed with that notion earlier in the week. He, however, still believes that Cook is one of four quarterbacks that will be selected in the first round, regardless of what’s been said about his off-the-field personality.

For whatever reason, the jury is still out on a three-year starter who finished as the program’s all-time wins leader. That could still be the case until the NFL draft combine next month.

But if Cook’s time spent with Whitfield results in a stellar showing in Indianapolis, there could be a few analysts eating their words.