James Cook might be third in the league in rushing, but that doesn’t mean he can abandon his main task for the Bills — holding on to the football.
Cook has 532 rushing yards through five games this season but has already fumbled the ball four times this year, a problem head coach Joe Brady insists he wants to be solved sooner rather than later.
The four fumbles are tied for the most in the league for a running back with the Giants’ Cam Skattebo.
Brady, in a video press conference on Tuesday after the Bills’ thrilling Monday night win over the Rams, said there could be “consequences” for the turnovers.
“Look, he’s doing so many good things running the football,” Brady said. “I don’t want to lose sight of how great he is running the ball right now. But putting the ball on the ground, it’s negating all the positive. I have all the confidence in him. That’s why I put him right back out there. But obviously, at some point there has to be consequences to when we’re putting negative stuff out there.”
Cook lost the ball twice in the win in Los Angeles, including once in overtime that ultimately didn’t cost the Bills the game because Buffalo blocked a potential game-winning field goal before kicking one of its own. Pro Football Focus hasn’t been friendly to Cook this season, grading him as the 25th-best running back out of 44 in the league.
“It’s going to cost us football games,” Brady added. It almost cost us one. We can’t confuse because we won the game that that’s OK. It’s got to improve or the carries are going to decrease.”
Cook, a Pro Bowl selection in each of the previous three seasons, recorded a career-worst six fumbles last year after posting four in 2023.
He led the league in rushing yards with 1,621 last year and is on pace to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau for the fourth straight year.
If Cook were to lose carries, Ray Davis and Ty Johnson slot in behind him on the depth chart and could get more action. But because of quarterback Josh Allen’s ability to run and Cook is entrenched as RB1, neither of those two has registered more than four attempts this season.
Fumble issues or not, the Bills are still in first place in the AFC East with a 4-1 record.