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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Status
ACTIVELatest James Cook news
Career History
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Bills2-0
vs.
Jaguars0-2
DraftKings points 15.3FanDuel Points 14.0ATT 14.7TD 0.5RUSH YDS 59.1LNG 17.2REC 2.6REC TD 0.3REC YDS 19.4AVG 7.3RAC 19.1CBSS fantasy points 12.2ESPN fantasy points 12.2Yahoo fantasy points 13.5Pregame Probabilities
Expected to run >100 RYDS15% -
Full season projectionsATT 198.2TD 3.4RUSH YDS 918.0LNG 24.0REC 36.9REC YDS 308.9AVG 8.4
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Cook (personal) is returning to practice Monday, Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com reports. Cook missed one practice to attend to a personal matter. He's locked in as the lead back in Buffalo, leaving Ty Johnson, Ray Davis, Darrynton Evans and Frank Gore to compete for backup roles.
Cook is absent from Bills practice Sunday for personal reasons, Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic reports. The nature of the personal matter Cook is dealing with hasn't been clarified, nor is it known how long the issue will keep the running back out of practice. At this point, there's no reason to believe he is in danger of missing substantial time. After compiling 1,567 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns last season, Cook is primed to lead the Buffalo backfield again in 2024.
Cook is slated to be joined by rookie fourth-rounder Ray Davis in the Bills backfield this coming season, Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic reports. Cook is coming off a 2023 regular season in which he carried 237times for 1,122 yards and two TDs to go along with 44 catches for 445 yards and four more scores in 17 games. With veteran backs Latavius Murray and Damien Harris no longer in the mix, Davis should have an opportunity to step into a complementary role behind Cook, while potentially claiming a share of the team's short-yardage work. Also in the team's backfield mix are Ty Johnson, Darrynton Evans and reported UDFA signing Frank Gore Jr., though none is likely to prevent Cook from maintaining steady enough volume in his third pro season.