James Cook has spent the 2025 season looking like one of the NFL’s most dangerous running backs, but the ball security problem that followed him through last year is back in the spotlight. Buffalo got away with two Cook fumbles in its primetime win over the Los Angeles Rams, yet the issue has become impossible to ignore with a Week 6 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders looming.
The numbers tell the story. Cook led all running backs with 1,621 rushing yards last season, but he also put the ball on the ground a league-high six times, or seven if the playoffs are counted.
Through five games this year, he has already fumbled four times. That gives him 11 fumbles in 24 games since the start of the 2025 season.
What makes it stand out even more is how sudden the slide has been. Over his first three seasons, including the playoffs, Cook fumbled just six times on his first 750 touches. Since the beginning of last year, he has coughed it up 11 times over 487 touches.
Head coach Joe Brady made it clear this week that the Bills can’t keep living with that kind of production from their No. 1 back.
“That can’t happen, and it’s going to cost us football games,” Brady said Tuesday, “and it almost cost us (Monday night). We can’t confuse that because we won the game.
That’s OK. “It’s got to improve, or the carries are going to decrease.”
Brady also stressed that the criticism shouldn’t erase everything Cook is giving Buffalo on the ground.
“He’s doing so many good things running the football, and I don’t want to lose sight of how great he’s running the ball right now,” Brady said. “But we’re putting the ball on the ground, and it’s negating all the positive.”
Cook, for his part, owned it.
“It could of just changed the game,” Cook said. “Just gotta hold onto it and just work on it each and every day. … Just need to take more care of the ball and hold myself accountable.”
If the workload does shrink, Ray Davis would look like the most likely player to absorb those extra carries.
There was also some encouraging news for Buffalo on the injury front. Starting right tackle Spencer Brown was a full participant in Thursday’s practice, while nickel cornerbacks Dee Alford and Te’Cory Couch appear set to return Sunday against the Raiders.
The Bills also brought cornerback Anthony Kendall back to the practice squad. Plus, there’s more on what prompted Rams offensive lineman Alaric Jackson to swing at Greg Rousseau.
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