James Cook sits out practice; contract issue now a concern
James Cook played nice for the first week of Buffalo Bills training camp, but that wasn’t the case Sunday as the team held it’s lone late morning/early afternoon practice at St. John Fisher University
Before the session began, Sean McDermott met with reporters and as he does each time, he started off by reading the list of injured players and what their status for the day’s practice would be.
Cook was not on that list, but when the workout began, he was not in uniform. Instead, he was wearing an all-white sweat suit with a knit hat. Everyone assumed that it was a veteran rest day for the running back, but afterward it became clear that it was not.
When he was asked what was up, he told a knot of reporters, “Business.” And for each question that followed, he repeated the word “Business.”
The Bills had no comment on the situation, but this obviously bears watching. Cook skipped all of the spring sessions and only reported for the mandatory minicamp in mid-June.
However, when he came into training camp on time and practiced with the team, the assumption was that he understood the situation with his contract and why he has not yet received an extension, and he was willing to play out the season and then hit unrestricted free agency in March.
How long his stance lasts is unknown. Maybe be it was just a one-day protest, but maybe this is the start of a contentious period that ultimately affects not only his preparation for the season, but even his availability.
Cook did say when he showed up for minicamp that he did so because he likes his money. Because he reported to training camp, he can sit out practices without incurring daily fines, but obviously that’s not something is going to endear him to coach Sean McDermott or general manager Brandon Beane.
Here are some other observations:
Maxwell Hairston in same situation as Cole Bishop
Last season, the Bills had high hopes for second-round draft Cole Bishop as they were going to give him every opportunity to win a starting job next to Taylor Rapp. Instead Bishop suffered a shoulder injury early in camp at Fisher, and all the time he lost sabotaged any chance he had of beating out Damar Hamlin.
Bishop spent the rest of his rookie season playing catchup and he was only just starting to find his groove late and then into the postseason.
The same thing has happened to Hairston, the team’s first-round pick. The cornerback suffered a non-contact knee injury last week and while it was the less serious LCL strain, it still has him on crutches and he’s going to miss at least a month, and that all but makes it a certainty that Tre’Davious White - assuming he stays healthy - will be starting Week 1 against the Ravens.
“It’s going to take some time, he’s week-to-week,” McDermott said. “This is probably going to take, I couldn’t even tell you. It’s similar probably to what Cole went through last year; not the same injury but maybe a similar window of time and it’s here’s (at camp), a young player that is not only missing just the moving around but also the part of the experience you get through the reps. There’s no way to avoid it, he’s going to be behind when he comes back.”
With Hairston down, White and Christian Benford are the two starters getting almost all the first-team reps, while veterans Dane Jackson and Ja’Marcus Ingram and rookie sixth-round pick Dorian Strong are battling for second-team reps.
Jackson Hawes showing off full skill set
When the Bills picked the former Yale and Georgia Tech standout in the fifth round, the book on him was great blocker, not so great pass catcher.
Since he arrived in Buffalo for OTAs, and continuing through Sunday’s practice at Fisher, the blocking piece is obvious, but he is opening some eyes with his ability to get into pass patterns, get open and make catches.
“He’s done a real good job, he really has,” McDermott said. “In the absence of both Dawson (Knox) and at times Dalton (Kincaid), he hasn’t blinked in terms of it being too big for him. He’s gone out and not only blocked well but he’s performed well overall, so he’s off to a good start.”
Hawes said he was counting down the days to when the Bills put the full pads on for the first time because as someone who excels at blocking and the physicality part of the sport, that was his first chance to really show it.
“Yeah, absolutely, I just love the physical part of it, so that practice five, when I looked at the schedule and saw we had full pads, I was fired up,” he said.
“He’s an Ivy League guy, brilliant, but you put the pads on and he’s as nasty as they come,” said offensive coordinator Joe Brady. “I’ve enjoyed working with him. I enjoy his approach, his mindset, and I’ve loved everything I’ve seen so far.”
The 6-foot-4, 253-pound Hawes caught 35 passes in three seasons at Yale, and in his lone season at Georgia Tech he caught 16 for 195 yards. He said he had no qualms about the draft profiles that were written about him because they were true, he needed to work on receiving at the NFL level.
“I didn’t really look at it in a salty way, but more so just, yeah, I mean, that’s kind of what I put on tape,” he said. “They watch the tape and they kind of come out with those for a reason. So I kind of looked at it and saw that this is an opportunity for me to go two ways. Either be pissed about it, or I can look at it as, hey, I want to grow in that facet and take it more serious.”
Jalen Virgil is making a nice push
When camp began, the wide receiver depth chart seemed all but set, especially if the Bills were going to go with five on the 53-man roster. Now, with all the injuries that have decimated the position, the latest being the high ankle sprain for Khalil Shakir, the competition has really ramped up.
The Bills may have to keep six out of necessity and the battle for that last spot is wide open. You can count Virgil, Tyrell Shavers, Laviska Shenault, Christian Wilkerson, Stephen Gosnell and Deon Cain as players who have had some nice moments.
But Virgil is really an interesting case because he joined the Bills’ practice squad at the end of 2024 training camp and wound up getting activated for seven straight regular-season games and played 37 offensive snaps and 83 special teams snaps.
“I was impressed with the way he handled his role last year, especially for not really being with us the whole season,” McDermott said of Virgil, who had one great rep Sunday when he burned Strong for a 40-yard touchdown on a fly route. “He embraced it, took a lot of pride in it, took ownership of it.
“So now it’s a full playbook, full role in terms of the dual role offensively and special teams. When you’re not in the top one or two, then you’re called on to play special teams as well. So balancing that is always interesting to see how that unfolds and how a player can handle that. So I like Jalen, I really do.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, he has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.