What is Buffalo doing with its star running back?
Bills' James Cook usage makes absolutely no sense originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The last couple seasons, it's been a theme of Buffalo Bills games.
The Bills take the field for a key drive, and for whatever reason, James Cook isn't in the backfield. Maybe it's Ty Johnson. Maybe it's Ray Davis. But Cook is too often on the sideline.
It happened Monday night, early in the fourth quarter, the Bills having gotten a key defensive stop and trailing by a touchdown. They called a running play on first-and-10 to start the new drive, a pitch left, but for whatever reason, it was Johnson getting the toss and not Cook.
The numbers backed this up, particularly in the Monday Night Football loss to the Falcons.
"James Cook snap count last night was 52.6%," wrote local radio man Howard Simon. "His 2nd lowest of the season. Lowest was in the blowout win over the Jets. As per ESPN, Cook was not on the field for any of the Bills 9 plays on 3rd down or their 1 play on 4th down. That’s inexcusable."
Inexcusable is the perfect word.
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Sure, the Bills like to keep Cook fresh. Johnson and Davis both have their own solid skillsets, too.
But why wouldn't they use one of their best offensive players more?
Against the Patriots in the Week 5 loss, the Bills played Cook more, but for long stretches, they went away from handing him the ball. It's like they don't always remember they have one of the league's best RBs hanging out back there with Josh Allen.
The Bills even paid Cook. It's not like they chose not to give him a contract extension and are fazing him out. He's not just the present of the Bills' backfield. He's the future, too.
It's not a small sample anymore, though. Cook, throughout the last few seasons, hasn't been relied upon as much as logic would dictate. At this point, it's not a surprise, but that doesn't make it feel any more sensible.
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