{"id":846570,"date":"2026-08-05T04:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T04:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/846570\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T04:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T04:42:09","slug":"james-cook-looks-to-become-just-third-player-since-2001-to-repeat-as-rushing-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/846570\/","title":{"rendered":"James Cook Looks To Become Just Third Player Since 2001 To Repeat As Rushing Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Cook<\/a> treats carrying the football the same way he answers questions about his past accomplishments.<\/p>\n

The Buffalo Bills<\/a> running back does both by solely looking forward.<\/p>\n

So there was no point in asking Cook to reflect on last year, when he used a brief training camp hold-in as leverage to get a new contract, and then proved his worth by leading the NFL<\/a> with 1,621 yards rushing.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t like to talk about last year, because last year is in the past. This year is a new year,” Cook said last week. “Put last year behind me, and just come out here to do it again.”<\/p>\n

That would be difficult for anyone, given that only two players since 2001 have won consecutive NFL rushing titles \u2014 Derrick Henry (2019-20) and LaDainian Tomlinson (2006-07).<\/p>\n

Propelling the 26-year-old Cook\u2019s belief entering his fifth season are a healthy dose of self-confidence, an offensive line that remains mostly intact and newly promoted head coach Joe Brady\u2019s offensive scheme.<\/p>\n

Despite Josh Allen<\/a>\u2019s strong arm and improvisational skills, the Bills split rushing and passing attempts evenly during Brady\u2019s two-plus seasons as offensive coordinator. Brady sees no reason to change course or to reduce Cook\u2019s workload this year.<\/p>\n

“I expect James Cook to take another step this year in different elements of his game and continue to be the workhorse as a runner,” Brady said.<\/p>\n

“And he wants it, right?” he added. “He had such an incredible season last year. And without diving into exactly what, this is what I told him: He has got to get better. We can\u2019t take steps backwards.”<\/p>\n

Cook\u2019s power and elusiveness were on display in practice Tuesday, Buffalo’s first full day in pads.<\/p>\n

On the first team drill, Cook took a handoff and burst through a hole on the left side for what would have been a 5-yard gain, and then sprung back up off the ground and kept running. A few minutes later, on a sweep to the right, Cook turned the corner and lowered his shoulder pad directly into the midsection of safety Cole Bishop.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a new year, and he going to do the same thing that he did last year, having that intensity,” Bishop said.<\/p>\n

Cook led the NFL last season with nine games of 100 yards rushing or more, and his 12 rushing TDs were fourth in the league. He had a career-high 309 carries and averaged a career-best 5.2 yards per attempt, which tied for second in the NFL.<\/p>\n

His only blemish has been ball security. He lost four of seven fumbles, including one at the Denver 30 in a 33-30 overtime loss in a divisional-round playoff game.<\/p>\n

Brady made a point to remind Cook about protecting the ball after the running back lost a fumble early in camp.<\/p>\n

“I fumbled. So I just got to fix it,” Cook said. “The ball is everybody\u2019s job, and that\u2019s my job. I\u2019m willing to protect it.”<\/p>\n

Make no mistake, Cook thrives on challenges.<\/p>\n

He did so last year by withholding his services before eventually landing a four-year, $48 million contract.<\/p>\n

“I wouldn\u2019t say stress. I wasn\u2019t stressing,” Cook said.<\/p>\n

His calm approach to the contract dispute, and how he performed after signing the deal, impressed his teammates.<\/p>\n

“I learned that he is very explosive, and he’s the man, and he takes care of business on the field and off the field,” running back Ray Davis<\/a> said. “He’s going to continue to excel in that way and prove that he earned every dollar.”<\/p>\n

Cook has his sights set higher this year, for himself and the Bills.<\/p>\n

“I’m looking forward to doing even bigger things. So whatever that is, I’m willing to do it,” he said.<\/p>\n

Buffalo has underperformed in the playoffs. The Bills are the NFL’s first team to win a playoff game in six straight postseason appearances without reaching a Super Bowl<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s on us. The ball is in our hands,” Cook said. “We control our own destiny. So whatever we do is on us. Eventually, it\u2019s going to happen.”<\/p>\n

Reporting by the Associated Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James Cook treats carrying the football the same way he answers questions about his past accomplishments. The Buffalo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":846571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[1748,57774,49,48,238048,2212,19826,514,102887,82,19501],"class_list":["post-846570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-c-j-gardner-johnson","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-james-cook-iii","tag-josh-allen","tag-national-football-league","tag-nfl","tag-ray-davis","tag-sports","tag-super-bowl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}