Cook rushed the ball 12 times for 32 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 34-10 win over the Titans. He was not targeted.
Cook returned from a one-game absence and retook the lead-back role in Buffalo's backfield, accounting for 12 of 17 carries by running backs. His efficiency was a more significant reason for concern, as his longest gain went for 11 yards while seven of his attempts went for two yards or fewer. Even more of a problem for Cook was his lack of involvement in the passing game, as he went without both a target and a reception in a game for the first time this season.
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Bills' James Cook: Ready to return Week 7
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Cook (toe) doesn't have an injury designation for Sunday's contest against the Titans, while rookie fourth-rounder Ray Davis (calf) is listed as questionable, Alec White of the Bills' official site reports.
Prior to Cook sitting out this past Monday against the Jets, there wouldn't have been much worry about his workload, as he was averaging 16.2 touches for 86.4 yards from scrimmage and 1.0 touchdown per game through five weeks. However, a toe injury for Cook paved the way for Davis to lead the Bills backfield Week 6, and the latter reeled off 152 total yards on 23 touches. Cook's health took a turn for the better this week, when he capped it with back-to-back full practices, while Davis came down with a calf issue Thursday and logged a pair of limited sessions. Even if Davis is able to earn active status Sunday, Cook should regain his usual role in Buffalo's offense.
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Bills' James Cook: Practices fully Thursday
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Cook (toe) practiced fully Thursday.
After being listed as a limited participant in Wednesday's walkthrough, Cook worked fully a day later, which sets the stage for him to reclaim his lead role in the Bills backfield Sunday against the Titans. In Cook's absence in this past Monday's 23-20 win over the Jets, Ray Davis -- who was limited by a calf injury Thursday -- carried 20 times for 97 yards and caught all three of his targets for 55 yards. If Davis is available this weekend, he'll be in line to move back to a complementary role behind Cook in an RB room that also includes Ty Johnson.
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Bills' James Cook: Participating in walk-through
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Cook (toe) will participate in Wednesday's walk-through session, but head coach Sean McDermott said Thursday's practice will provide a better barometer for the running back's health, Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News reports.
McDermott previously said Tuesday that he was optimistic about Cook being ready for Sunday's game against the Titans. Cook missed Monday's 23-20 win over the Jets, opening the door for rookie Ray Davis to take 23 touches for 152 yards while handling a 58 percent snap share.
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Bills' James Cook: Coach hoping for Week 7 return
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Bills head coach Sean McDermott said Tuesday that he's optimistic Cook (toe) will be available to play Sunday against the Titans, Matt Parrino of The Syracuse Post-Standard reports.
Though Cook was listed as questionable heading into Monday's game against the Jets, reports leading up to the contest suggested he was on track to play. However, Cook didn't make enough progress in his recovery from a toe injury and ended up on the inactive list for the first time all season, with the Bills turning to rookie Ray Davis and veteran Ty Johnson to fill the backfield in a 23-20 win. Davis (20 carries for 97 yards, three receptions for 55 yards) was impressive in his first extended NFL action to date, and his big performance could prompt the Bills to take a cautious approach with Cook during practice this week. McDermott indicated that a decision on Cook's status may not be made until closer to game day, per Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News.
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Bills' James Cook: Inactive versus Jets
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Cook (toe) is inactive for Monday night's game against the Jets.
After being deemed a non-participant in Thursday's practice and Friday's walkthrough, Cook logged a limited session Saturday before being listed as questionable for the contest. With Cook having been made inactive by the Bills on Monday, look for Ty Johnson and Ray Davis to lead the team's Week 6 backfield, with practice-squad elevation Frank Gore also on hand to provide depth.
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Bills' James Cook: Trending toward playing Monday
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Cook (toe) is expected to practice in limited fashion Saturday and is trending toward playing Monday against the Jets, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Schefter seems plugged into this situation given the Bills technically haven't practiced yet Saturday. Cook was a DNP for both Thursday and Friday practices, so any upgrade seems to be a solid affirmation of the aforementioned report. Expect more confirmation to arrive in the coming days, but should Cook play, both Ty Johnson and Ray Davis would likely continue to operate as a backup platoon out of the backfield.
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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: 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: 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.
