ORCHARD PARK — Brandin Cooks laid out for the pass 31 yards downfield and it squirted between his arms on his way down to the turf.
There was 8:01 left in the game when the play began and it was only Cooks’ ninth snap of the game. And it was his first and only target of the Buffalo Bills’ 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns.
Cooks has been targeted twice downfield over the last two games and he dropped them both, the other coming on the first offensive play from scrimmage against the New England Patriots. Since catching the first pass thrown to him for a 13-yard gain against the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s been a slow first four games since signing with the Bills.
In fact, that’s Cooks’ only catch with the Bills. But the 12-year veteran doesn’t seem to be concerned. He thinks it’s only a matter of time before he starts making plays for the Bills.
“I’m going to continue to grind, come in here, work my tail off and all that’s going to change,” Cooks told GNN Sports after practice Tuesday. “And when it happens, everyone will know. I expect that to change right away.”
Cooks only has five targets in his first four games with the Bills after being granted his release from the New Orleans Saints. He also only played 29.4% of the offensive snaps during his early stint with the Bills, a sharp contrast for a player who’s played nearly 80% of the snaps in 172 career games.
Some of it is Cooks’ newness to the team and some of it is the stage he’s in his career at 32 years old. But the Bills also rotate their receivers heavily no matter what and they join the New York Jets as the only teams in the league to have a single receiver who’s played at least 60% of the snaps this season.
It differs from the rest of the league as 23 teams have a receiver that’s played 70% of the snaps and 18 with one over 80%. That was the receiver Cooks has been for most of his career, especially from 2015-2021, when he had six 1,000-yard seasons in seven years.
“We’ve got an unselfish group in our receiving room,” Cooks said. “We’re all kind of rotating and our run game is so amazing. We all can make plays, so it’s just a part of it. At the end of the day, my No. 1 goal — I just want to win. And I truly mean that. … When I’m in — it doesn’t matter how much — that’s just my mindset.”
Cooks won’t say it, but neither pass he’s dropped from Allen has been a perfect pass. They were both passes an NFL receiver should catch, but the degree of difficulty wasn’t easy. And it’s hard to catch passes consistently with limited targets.
It also takes time to create chemistry with a quarterback, especially one like Allen who so frequently plays off schedule because of his ability to extend plays longer than most quarterbacks can.
Albeit with a broken wrist, veteran Amari Cooper faced similar challenges when he was traded from the Browns to the Bills six games into the season. In his eight games, Cooper was targeted just 32 times, making 20 catches for 297 yards and two touchdowns.
But Cooper also played fewer than 50% of the snaps in half his games and no more than 54.2% in any game.
“We’ve been really close the last couple games,” Allen said. “We’re going to continue to work hard and get on the same page. … When there are opportunities moving forward, we have supreme faith that we’re going to make those.”
Even though Buffalo’s receiver room remains in flux 15 games into the season, it would be surprising to find Cooks as a healthy scratch like Keon Coleman was last week and Gabriel Davis has been the last two weeks.
Some of those decisions seemingly came out of nowhere, however. Before falling out of the lineup, Davis played 55% of the snaps against the Houston Texans, second on the team to Khall Shakir and 58% of the snaps against the Steelers, again second only to Tyrell Shavers.
And against the Cincinnati Bengals, Davis played 37 snaps, more than any receiver on the team. He hasn’t played since.
After being disciplined for two games for missing a meeting, Coleman only saw 18 snaps against the Bengals. But he was second to Shakir with 39 snaps against the Patriots before being scratched against the Browns.
But the Bills have praised Cooks’ professionalism and ability to learn the playbook since arriving in Orchard Park. The Bills clearly value those players and try to reward them when they can.
And not only did Cooks draw a pass interference call against the Bengals, but he was open on both of his drops so his speed has not clearly diminished. A common gripe about Bills receivers the last two seasons is separation ability and Cooks has shown an ability to get open, it’s just a matter of catching the ball.
“He’s been a tremendous get for us,” Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady said. “… It’s receiver, so it’s all about production. But when he’s on the field, there’s certain defenses that we get that have opened up some things, both in the run game and the pass game. … There’s a reason we brought him here.”