James Cook looks to bounce back after first-touch fumble

Rookie RB fumbles on first career touch, sits remainder of game

There were a handful of Bills rookies that fans were excited to see in Thursday’s season opener. Some of them had the chance to showcase their ability, but unfortunately for second-round running back James Cook, he lost that chance on his first touch.

Devin Singletary and Zack Moss got most of the work in the backfield in Thursday night’s win over the Rams. Cook’s first handoff of his career in the second quarter resulted in a fumble.

Nick Scott came down from his safety position to make the tackle on Cook and force the ball free, giving linebacker Leonard Floyd the ability to recover the ball for a turnover. 

Cook was obviously not happy with the outcome of his first NFL carry. Sean McDermott is a coach who does not tolerate turnovers in the slightest, and he held Cook out for the rest of the game. Cook was seen standing alone behind coach McDermott on the sideline, as seen in a Von Miller Mic’d Up video posted by the Bills, and the veteran Miller ran right over to Cook, telling him, “Got that out the way, go ahead and take that sh*t for 80 now… go ahead and take that sh*t for 80. You got it man. You got it out the way, go ahead and get your sh*t now!”

Shortly after the fumble, Dane Jackson picked off Matthew Stafford, giving the Bills the ball back. Regardless, it didn’t look good for James Cook and doesn’t look good for his workload in the near future. 

This will be a huge lesson for James Cook and he will hopefully learn from this mistake and protect the ball when he gets another chance. It will be interesting to see how he is utilized in the home opener against the Titans on Monday night.