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Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott is notoriously strict on unforced errors, and the team’s top offensive rookie made a major one in his first NFL game.
Running back James Cook fumbled on his first carry — which came on the very first snap of his NFL career — handing a costly turnover to the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams took advantage of a series of miscues from the Bills in the first half, erasing a 10-0 deficit to tie the game at halftime. Though the Bills would go on to steamroll the defending Super Bowl champions in the second half and win 31-10, Cook’s mistake could prove to be a costly one for his young career.
Bills Coach Benches Cook
After his turnover, Cook barely saw the field for the rest of the game. McDermott benched Cook for a long stretch, giving him just two more snaps.
The Bills coach was careful not to publicly chastise his rookie, saying after the game that Cook would be able to bounce back from the rough start to his career.
“We try and allow the player to reset and then get back out there,” McDermott said, via the Buffalo News. “I thought (running backs) coach (Kelly) Skipper did a good job with allowing that time to take place. Then James was back out there for a couple … plays, I think, through the rest of the game. So I think that’s better than a player having to not go back out there and then sleep on it and not having a chance to kind of make up for the mistake, if you will. I think that’s something he’ll learn from and he needs to learn from. We can do a better job with it overall, as a team, as well.”
But McDermott has proven to be hard on players who cough up the ball. When return specialist Isaiah McKenzie had trouble with ball security last season, he found himself a healthy scratch for a stretch of games and McDermott called on the surehanded Micah Hyde to return punts.
While the Bills were happy with their 31-10 win on Thursday, McDermott made it a point after the game to call out the team’s turnovers.
“Played good complementary football, starting with the opening kickoff of the second half. There’s still some things we have to work on in terms of taking care of the football,” McDermott said.
Bills Running Backs Struggle
Cook was not the only Bills running back to struggle in the season-opening win. Third-year back Zack Moss also had a garbage-time fumble, and trouble finding room to move the ball. He had six carries for just 15 yards, a 2.5-yard-per-carry average. Moss did add six receptions, second behind only wide receiver Stefon Diggs, but had a total of 21 receiving yards.
Devin Singletary had the best night among all running backs, taking his eight carries for a total of 48 yards. The team’s best rusher, in a stat line that has grown familiar to Bills fans, was once again quarterback Josh Allen. He ran 10 times for 56 yards, including several bruising runs into the heart of the Rams defense.
Allen’s most memorable run came in the third quarter, when he stiff-armed Rams safety Nick Scott to run for a first down.
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