Bills' James Cook: Estimated as non-practice participant
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Cook (toe) was deemed a non-participant in Friday's walkthrough.
With back-to-back listed DNPs on Thursday and Friday, what (if anything) Cook is able to do Saturday could loom large in terms of his availability for Monday night's game against the Jets. Unless he practices fully, however, the running back presumably will carry a Week 6 injury designation. If Cook ends up unavailable against New York, Ty Johnson and Ray Davis would be next up for the Bills' backfield touches.
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Bills' James Cook: Listed as non-participant
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Cook (toe) didn't practice Thursday.
Cook did some work on a side field but was then held out of practice for a second straight day, leaving his availability for Monday's game against the Jets in doubt. He'll have two more chances to practice before the game, with Ty Johnson and Ray Davis positioned for more snaps and touches if Cook doesn't end up playing. Davis played only three snaps in Sunday's 23-20 loss to Houston, but he might be the lead runner if Cook is inactive, as Johnson mostly has been used on passing downs throughout this pro career.
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Bills' James Cook: Only doing work on side Thursday
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Cook (foot/toe) is working on the side field at practice Thursday, Katherine Fitzgerald of The Buffalo News reports.
Cook appears destined to considered 'DNP' for a second straight day after having picked up foot and toe injuries during Buffalo's narrow Week 5 loss to Houston. The starting running back is reportedly considered 'day-to-day' entering a Monday Night Football matchup against the Jets, but he'll only have two more chances to officially participate in practice before receiving an injury designation for the Week 6 matchup. Ty Johnson and Ray Davis are next up for backfield touches for the Bills if Cook is forced to miss any time.
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Bills' James Cook: Missing practice Wednesday
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Cook won't practice Wednesday due to foot and toe injuries, Maddy Glab of the Bills' official site reports.
According to Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com, Cook is banged up coming out of last week's loss to Houston and now falls into the day-to-day category ahead of Monday's game against the Jets. Look for added context regarding Cook's status to arrive no later than Thursday, when the Bills will post their first official Week 6 injury report. While Cook is sidelined for at least Wednesday's session, Ty Johnson and Ray Davis are next up for reps out of the backfield.
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Bills' James Cook: Finds pay dirt in lopsided win
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Cook rushed 11 times for 39 yards and a touchdown while catching four of five targets for 48 yards in Monday's 47-10 win over the Jaguars.
Cook finished Buffalo's opening drive with a six-yard touchdown run, which was his third rushing touchdown in the last two games after Cook had only four rushing scores in his first 34 regular-season appearances. He should have added a 28-yard receiving touchdown on a wheel route in the second quarter, but an accurate throw from Josh Allen went right through Cook's hands. Despite that miscue, Cook finished second on the team in both rushing yards (behind Allen's 44) and receiving yards (behind Khalil Shakir's 72) in the dominant win. Cook has posted at least 87 yards for scrimmage in every game this season heading into a Week 4 trip to Baltimore.
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Bills' James Cook: Three TDs in Week 2 road win
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Cook rushed 11 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns and secured his only target for a 17-yard score in the Bills' 31-10 win over the Dolphins on Thursday night.
As the three-touchdown total and the 7.1 yards per carry figure substantiates, Cook was a one-man wrecking crew on the offensive side of the ball for the Bills in the lopsided victory. The third-year back opened the scoring with a 17-yard touchdown reception to cap off Buffalo's opening possession, and he added scoring runs of one and 49 yards in the second quarter. The fact the Bills already had a two-touchdown lead by halftime allowed head coach Sean McDermott to take it easy on Cook in the second half, with rookie backup Ray Davis nearly matching him in carries (nine) by night's end. Cook has 149 rushing yards and 49 receiving yards through two games heading into a Week 3 home matchup against the Jaguars on Monday, Sept. 23.
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Bills' James Cook: Posts 103 total yards in opener
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Cook rushed 19 times for 71 yards and caught all three of his targets for 32 yards in Sunday's 34-28 win over the Cardinals.
The Bills went with a run-heavy approach, but Josh Allen scored both of the team's rushing touchdowns while also throwing a pair. The 237-pound quarterback vulturing touchdowns is nothing new for Cook, as Cook had just two rushing touchdowns to Allen's 15 in the 2023 regular season. Heading into Thursday's road game against the Dolphins, Cook is the clear lead back in Buffalo over rookie fourth-round draft pick Ray Davis and Ty Johnson (knee), who combined for just five carries and two targets in the season-opening win, with the latter exiting due to an injury.
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Bills' James Cook: Won't play in preseason finale
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Coach Sean McDermott relayed Monday that the Bills won't play their starters, a group that includes Cook, in the team's preseason finale against the Panthers on Saturday, Alec White of the team's official site reports.
The report notes that initially Buffalo's starters were trending toward seeing some snaps this weekend, but with injuries hitting the team ahead of Week 1, a cautious approach will be taken. As a result, Cook's next game action will occur Sunday, Sept. 8 against the Cardinals, and at that time the 2022 second-rounder will be in line to continue to lead a backfield that also includes Ray Davis and Ty Johnson.
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Bills' James Cook: Dominates first-team touches
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Cook rushed the ball six times for 25 yards in Saturday's 9-3 preseason win over the Steelers.
Cook was unsurprisingly the first Buffalo running back on the field, but he was the only player to record a rushing attempt with the first-team offense on the field. That usage wasn't quite as significant because the Bills failed to approach the goal line -- the most likely spot for Cook to lose work during the regular season -- but it's at least some indication of the gap that he has built as the Bills' lead back over Ty Johnson and Ray Davis.
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Bills' James Cook: Bottled up in preseason start
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Cook rushed four times for two yards and wasn't targeted in Saturday's 33-6 preseason loss to the Bears.
Cook played the entire first quarter alongside Josh Allen before both checked out of the game to begin the second quarter, replaced by Ray Davis and Mitch Trubisky, respectively. While Cook failed to find running room in this one, his breakout 1,122-rushing yard 2023 regular season has earned the 24-year-old running back some breathing room atop the depth chart. The Bills will travel to Pittsburgh for their next preseason game next Saturday.
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Bills' James Cook: Likely playing Saturday
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Cook and other starters likely will play about a quarter in Saturday's preseason game against Chicago, Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com reports.
Coach Sean McDermott didn't mention Cook by name, but the running back will likely be out there if Josh Allen is. McDermott confirmed that Allen is scheduled to start, leading an offense in which the top skill-position weapons figure to be Cook, TE Dalton Kincaid and WRs Curtis Samuel, Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman. A relative lack of experience in the pass-catching corps could lead to the running backs being more emphasized, but there's some chance that benefits rookie Ray Davis and/or Ty Johnson rather than giving Cook a big uptick from last year's regular-season totals of 634 snaps (54.5 percent), 237 carries and 44 receptions.
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Bills' James Cook: Finishes loss with 82 yards
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Cook rushed 18 times for 61 yards and caught four of five targets for 21 yards in Sunday's 27-24 loss to Kansas City.
Cook had trouble finding holes (3.4 YPC) against a tough defensive front led by the Chiefs' Chris Jones, finishing with 82 total yards and no touchdowns Sunday. With the loss ending Buffalo's season, Cook will finish his breakout fantasy campaign after posting 1,567 yards from scrimmage and six total touchdowns in 17 regular-season games as the Bills' starting tailback. Barring a big-name addition to the backfield this upcoming offseason, Cook figures to lead Buffalo's rushing attack alongside quarterback Josh Allen in 2024.
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Bills' James Cook: Leading rusher off 18 carries
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Cook carried the ball 18 times for 79 yards while adding four catches for five yards in Monday's 31-17 wild-card win over the Steelers.
Cook was unable to score a touchdown to round out his final box score, but he still generated good rushing numbers on a game-high number of carries en route to victory. The 18 totes and 22 combined touches were marks the 24-year-old had reached only twice over the course of the regular season. Quarterback Josh Allen chipped in 8-72-1 as a runner Monday, while true backup Ty Johnson did little with his eight rushes (26 yards). With the victory, the No. 2 seed Bills will move onto the AFC divisional round to host the Chiefs in a rematch of the historic divisional playoff game from the 2021 postseason. Buffalo will be riding a win streak of six games into that playoff matchup while also featuring Cook as a new weapon that the 2021 version did not possess.
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Bills' James Cook: Held in check by New England
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Cook carried the ball 16 times for 48 yards and caught one of three targets for minus-4 yards in Sunday's 27-21 win over the Patriots.
The second-year running back was held to his lowest scrimmage yardage total since Week 9, a game in which he got only 10 touches. Cook has become a major part of the Buffalo offense since then, collecting 798 combined yards and four touchdowns on 135 touches over the last seven contests, and he figures to be busy again in Week 18 against the Dolphins as the Bills attempt to claim their fourth straight AFC East title.
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Bills' James Cook: Loses out on goal-line work
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Cook rushed the ball 20 times for 70 yards in Saturday's 24-22 win over the Chargers. He also lost a fumble and was not targeted.
On the surface, Cook's stat line isn't all that concerning as he continued to dominate work out of the Buffalo backfield. However, he saw zero targets for only the second time this season and for the first time since Week 6. Cook also lost out on red-zone work to both Leonard Fournette and Josh Allen on two separate drives, a concerning trend for his potential to score touchdowns in the final two weeks of the regular season, though it's worth noting that Cook hasn't always been used as a clear goal-line back this season and the Bills have looked to several different players from in close all season, including backup Latavius Murray. Cook will still have a safe floor as Buffalo's lead back, but it will be difficult for him to replicate his stellar recent performances with the usage that he saw in Saturday's win. His fumbling issues also merit watching, as he had one key turnover Saturday and almost lost another one earlier in the contest.
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Bills' James Cook: Good to go Saturday
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Cook (illness) doesn't carry an injury designation for Saturday night's game against the Chargers.
After missing Wednesday's session due to an illness, Cook practiced without restrictions Thursday, which sets the stage for the 2022 second-rounder to continue to lead the Bills backfield this weekend against the 5-9 Chargers. In this past Sunday's 31-10 win over the Cowboys, Cook turned in the most productive fantasy effort of his NFL career, carrying 25 times for 179 yards and a touchdown while catching two of his three targets for 42 yards and another score.
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Bills' James Cook: Racks up 221 yards, two TDs
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Cook rushed 25 times for 179 yards and a touchdown while catching two of three targets for 42 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 31-10 win over the Cowboys.
Cook reached triple digits in scrimmage yards for the fifth consecutive game, and he hit that mark before halftime with 104 rushing yards and 42 receiving yards in the first half. That production included an 18-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. Cook had an opportunity to add another receiving touchdown in the third quarter but dropped a pass just outside the end zone. That was a rare mistake in an otherwise outstanding performance from the second-year running back, who blew past his previous career high of 123 rushing yards from Week 2 against the Raiders. Cook put an exclamation point on his career-best performance with a 24-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. Buffalo has found success with a more run-heavy approach in recent weeks, so Cook is poised to maintain a prominent role in Week 16 against the reeling Chargers.
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Bills' James Cook: Comes up big in Week 14 win
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Cook carries the ball 10 times for 58 yards and caught all five of his targets for 83 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 20-17 win over Kansas City.
The second-year running back wound up as the Bills' leading receiver on the day, and Cook opened the scoring by connecting with Josh Allen on a 25-yard TD strike late in the first quarter. Cook has reached 100 scrimmage yards in four straight games, with Sunday's 141 being his best total since he erupted for 159 yards back in Week 2. He could have a hard time extending his streak to five games in Week 15 against a tough and aggressive Cowboys defense.
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Bills' James Cook: RBs to Start
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In two games since Joe Brady took over as offensive coordinator for Ken Dorsey, Cook has scored at least 16 PPR points in each outing against the Jets and Eagles. The best part is his role in the passing game with nine catches for 86 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets, and hopefully that becomes a staple of this offense to close the season. Cook also has 33 carries over that span, and he should remain heavily involved in Week 14 at Kansas City in a potential shootout. The Chiefs have allowed a running back to score at least 13.5 PPR points in five of their past six games, and Cook will hopefully stay hot coming off Buffalo's bye.
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Bills' James Cook: Eclipses century mark in loss
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Cook rushed 12 times for 109 yards and brought in both of his targets for 11 yards in the Bills' 24-22 loss to the Broncos on Monday night. He also committed two fumbles, losing one and recovering the other.
Cook was able to get over the 100-yard mark for only the second time this season, with the second-year back accomplishing the feat courtesy of a clutch 42-yard yard run on the Bills' final possession that saw him recover his own fumble during the play and advance the ball another 29 yards. Cook was also part of a bumbled exchange with quarterback Josh Allen, one that won't go on his ledger but was another costly mistake for the Bills. However, Cook's statistical surge was an especially welcome sight after he mustered only 39 total yards on 10 touches in Week 9 against the Bengals. While he's still sitting on just two total touchdowns this season, Cook will head into a Week 11 home divisional clash with the Jets boasting plenty of momentum thanks to Monday's performance, assuming he can get past the ball security issues and the Buffalo coaching staff doesn't penalize him for that part of his performance.
