Buffalo Bills HC Joe Brady took the nicest possible route to issuing a warning to star RB James Cook for one key mistake that might lead to reduced touches.
The Bills had to fight hard to secure a 37-34 win over Super Bowl contenders Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football, improving their season record to 4-1, retaining their lead atop the AFC East.
Even with the on-field success and high-level performances from players like Cook, coach Brady is worried that a pattern of repeated mistakes needs to be corrected immediately, or Cook will face on-field consequences.
Bills will reduce James Cook’s usage if he can’t stop fumbling the ball
Brady gave an interview after the win over the Rams where he directly addressed Cook’s problems with fumbling the ball and causing crucial turnovers, threatening the star RB politely to be wary of consequences if he can’t contain his mistakes.
“Right now, we are putting the ball in harm’s way. The way we lose games right now is because we turn the ball over, right? Our two best players turned the ball over last night. James put the ball on the ground. He is doing so many great things running the football; I don’t want to lose sight of that. But we are putting the ball on the ground and it’s negating the positives.”
“At some point, there need to be consequences when we are putting negative stuff out there. Conversations are ongoing; James knows. It’s important to him. But it can’t happen. It’s gonna cost us games, and it almost cost us that game. We can’t confuse that because we won the game that that’s okay. It’s gotta improve, or the carries are going to decrease.”
Cook has 95 carries on the season for 532 yards and five rushing touchdowns. However, he also has four fumbles (two lost) already this season. His 11 fumbles since the start of last season are the most for any non-QB player.
Despite his elite ability to gain yardage through rushing, giving the Bills a versatile threat next to QB Josh Allen, Cook’s fumbles can put the Bills in danger in games with higher stakes.
Cook’s lost fumble in OT against the Rams gave them a chance to steal the win, but the Bills managed to block the field goal attempt and stay alive in the contest.
Hopefully, the 27-year-old finds a way to slow his turnover rate down.
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