'I just want to win:' Brandin Cooks plans to make more plays with Bills
"At the end of the day, we’ve got an unselfish group in our receiver room and we’re all kind of rotating and our run game is so amazing," Cooks said. "We all can make plays, so it’s just a part of it. My number one goal is I just want to win."
Brandin Cooks remained on the field Tuesday evening at One Bills Drive to catch passes from Buffalo Bills backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
Once the JUGS machine became available, Cooks put on his helmet and caught dozens of footballs. Teammates have marveled over the relentless work Cooks has put in each day since the 12-year veteran wide receiver signed with the Bills on Nov. 25.
Through four games, Cooks has just one catch for 13 yards. He has been targeted five times. The most important stat of all, at least to Cooks, is the Bills' record during that span: 4-0.
Brandin Cooks has one catch for 13 yards on five targets in four games with the Bills.
Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
"It's a resilient group," he said. "... That's a mark of a championship team."
Cooks would know. Twice he's played in the Super Bowl and lost. Six times he has totaled at least 1,000 receiving yards. The speedster was so talented and coveted so highly that twice he was traded for a first-round draft pick. The speed isn't gone. Cooks has separated from multiple cornerbacks since joining Buffalo. At 32 years old, he's not content with getting open, though.
If the ball goes to Cooks, he expects to make a catch. And if he doesn't, no one holds Cooks accountable as much as he does. Though the Bills and Western New York have been everything he imagined and more when he requested his release from the New Orleans Saints last month, Cooks wants and plans to make more plays for a team that is bound for the playoffs for a seventh straight year.
Last Sunday, for the second time in as many weeks, Cooks came close to making an explosive play. He ran through the arms of a Browns cornerback near the line of scrimmage, then cut toward the left sideline on a corner route.
Cooks created enough separation, and Josh Allen made a perfect throw on second-and-9 play from Buffalo's 36-yard line in the fourth quarter. Cooks extended his arms to corral the football, but he dropped it while trying to pull it in to his chest. During the previous game, a come-from-behind win over the New England Patriots, Cooks bobbled a perfect pass from Allen near the right sideline at Gillette Stadium. A catch was initially called on the field, but it was quickly overturned.
"For me, the player I am and I know to be, I expect to make those plays," Cooks said. "It’s definitely not a lack of working hard or not work. Things happen. I flush them, but at the same time, in my mind, it’s like, ‘I’ve gotta make that play.’ That’s my mindset. It will always be my mindset. Nobody will be harder on me than myself."
Cooks wants to make a bigger impact, which the Bills need. Over the past four games, their entire wide receiver corps has combined for just 29 catches and 334 yards.
The position has been a problem throughout the season, as Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman are the only two with at least 20 catches. Coleman, a second-year wide receiver drafted in the second round, did not play in Cleveland because he was a healthy inactive. Shakir is the only Bills receiver with more than 355 receiving yards. This offense was built for receivers to run routes that lead to yards after the catch, yet Shakir is the only one to have more than 80 yards after the catch this season.
Gabe Davis, the veteran receiver the Bills brought back and signed to the 53-man roster, was a healthy inactive the past two games. Joshua Palmer, their free-agent signing last March, has 20 catches for 290 yards and zero touchdowns. The passing offense has needed to rely on tight ends and running backs if the crossing routes and screens aren't leading to chunk gains for Shakir.
Cooks is the one who can get open downfield. No one else in the group has his speed. Two years ago, he caught eight touchdown passes for the Dallas Cowboys. He can still run exceptional routes, and he has been open on many of the 46 routes that he's run with the Bills. Allen has targeted him just five times, though. Cooks could be the key to adding another dimension to the offense.
"All of that is going to change," Cooks said of his impact. "When it happens, everyone will know. And I expect that to change right away."
Allen's 20 completions that traveled 20-plus air yards are tied for 13th among qualifying quarterbacks, according to Pro Football Focus. It's 13 fewer than last season, when he was tied for second. His average depth of target is just 7.6 yards, 22nd in the NFL, and PFF has credited his receivers with the ninth-most dropped passes (20).
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady took ownership of his role in Cooks' minimal impact, telling reporters Monday that the play-caller needs to make sure the receiver is getting the ball. But, even if Cooks isn't catching passes, he's making an immeasurable impact. His approach to practices and meetings can show a young receiver such as Coleman what it takes to have success and longevity in the NFL. It also helps that Cooks quickly embraced the physicality that Bills receivers need to have as run blockers on the perimeter.
Cooks was blocking his man toward the end zone Sunday as James Cook finished a 44-yard run.
"He does a lot even, when he doesn’t have the ball," Brady said. "And I know sometimes it’s naturally, it’s a receiver, so it’s about the production and the targets. But when he’s on the field, there’s certain defenses that we get that have opened up some things, too, both in the run game and the pass game. There’s a reason we brought him here and we need to continue to get him going. He’s obviously out there in the run game, but we’ve got to get him going in the pass (game)."
It would help if Cooks were on the field more often. Even though he insists it's not an issue, it is easier for a receiver to get into a rhythm if they are involved and running routes. Over his four games, Cooks' snaps were 17 against Pittsburgh, 23 against Cincinnati, 24 against New England and 12 against Cleveland.
Cooks isn't focused on playing time, though. He is focused on catching the ball when it's thrown his way. And, since arriving in Orchard Park, he has proven that he can be a weapon for the Bills' offense, and can show it again Sunday when they host the Philadelphia Eagles.
"At the end of the day, we’ve got an unselfish group in our receiver room and we’re all kind of rotating and our run game is so amazing," said Cooks. "We all can make plays, so it’s just a part of it. My number one goal is I just want to win. I truly mean that. … When I’m in, I’m in. It doesn’t matter how much. That’s just my mindset."