The Bills are getting ready for Thursday night’s matchup with the Lions, and one of the plays that keeps coming up is the hook-and-ladder. Buffalo has gotten comfortable with it, and Khalil Shakir made it clear just how much the team likes the call when it hits.
“When it works, it’s the most beautiful thing ever,” Shakir said, via Tim Graham of The Athletic. “All the times you’ve practiced it, you might’ve not called it in 10 weeks, but when you finally call it, you can’t stop smiling.”
Ty Johnson said the play is hardly something Buffalo is throwing out there on a whim. The work goes into it long before game day.
“It’s not something we just twiddle our thumbs and draw it up in the sand,” Johnson said. “It’s difficult because, for instance, me getting through the line: You might have to navigate through the O-line and the D-line.
The receivers have to get through coverages, and they’re getting pressed a lot of times. The outside receiver, he’s running an in-cut, so he’s really got to get off his (defender) in man pressure, secure the ball and then toss it before he gets tackled.
You’ve got to put the time in at practice to execute it.”
Shakir also pointed out how much the Bills build the look of the play before it gets snapped, and that it can be called at almost any point.
“You never know when it’s coming,” Shakir said. “We line up in that formation, two by two, a thousand times in the year, and we’re moving guys around, switching them up, using motion.
It’s one of those plays you practice and study for the end of the game, but it can come up whenever. It’s in the playbook.
You want to call it on first down? I say go ahead.”
In New York, Jets receiver Omar Cooper Jr. is week-to-week with an ankle injury, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, but it “doesn’t sound like he will miss a lot of time there.”
The Patriots got encouraging news on TreVeyon Henderson, who was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice after dealing with an ankle injury. That puts him on track to play in Week 2 unless something changes.
On Thursday, Henderson said, “I’m ready to go.” (Mike Reiss)
New England also adjusted Mack Hollins’ incentive package for 2026, making the targets tougher to reach, per Spotrac. His reception incentives moved from 30 to 47 for $300,000, 40 to 50 for another $300,000, and 50 to 55 for $400,000.
And the Patriots’ one-year, $3.5 million deal for DaQuan Jones includes a $1 million signing bonus, $1,397,778 of his $1.48 million salary guaranteed, and up to $960,000 in per-game roster bonuses, according to OverTheCap.
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