Bills Central

Patriots preparing to exploit James Cook's weakness during Week 15 matchup vs. Bills

The Buffalo Bills' RB is looking for a better performance than he put forth in the two teams' first meeting.
Alex Brasky|
Dec 7, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills running back James Cook III (4) runs with the ball in the third quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Highmark Stadium.
Dec 7, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills running back James Cook III (4) runs with the ball in the third quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Highmark Stadium. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

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The Patriots will pull out all the stops on Sunday when they try to take down the Buffalo Bills for the second time this season.

That includes trying to expose one of the Bills’ most important players' most glaring weaknesses.

RELATED: Buffalo Bills have golden opportunity to exploit Patriots' fading run 'D' in Week 15

James Cook
Dec 7, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills running back James Cook III (4) fumbles the ball in the third quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Highmark Stadium. | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Fumblitis

James Cook has developed quite the fumbling problem this season, coughing the ball up six times through 13 games, which is already five more than he had all of last season. The Bills have lost three of Cook’s fumbles, which is the fifth most of any player during the 2025 campaign. All six of his fumbles have come during rushing plays, which is the most in the league in such situations.

Four of his fumbles have come over the past two weeks, two in each game, including a couple near the goal line against the Cincinnati Bengals.

In short, ball security has been an obvious deficiency for Cook, and it’s clear that New England is doing all it can to knock the ball free from the Bills running back’s grasp on Sunday afternoon. While it’s not atypical for NFL teams to practice punching the ball out during their time on the practice field, perhaps there has been a bit more focus placed by the Patriots on that phase of the game leading into a matchup featuring Cook and Josh Allen, whose five fumbles on rushing plays are second-most in the league, per NFL.com.

MORE: Buffalo Bills' James Cook suddenly has a fumble problem

Drilling it

That much was confirmed in a video posted by Tom Carroll of WEEI to his X account, during which a couple of Patriots players wearing white practice jerseys with the No. 4 go through various drills as defenders in blue jerseys attempt to jar the ball loose from the ball carrier’s grasp. As mentioned previously, it’s not an uncommon practice. Still, the frequency with which the Patriots’ defenders went after the ball across different drills stood out while watching the video.

It goes without saying, but Cook must hang onto the football this weekend if the Bills hope to have a chance to move past their AFC East foe. The Buffalo RB has had a phenomenal season, as he enters the Week 15 matchup second in the league in rushing yards (1,308). Still, one turnover could change the game that is expected to have a slim margin for error.

Buffalo turned the ball over three times during its Week 5 defeat at the hands of New England, finishing -2 in turnover differential. It cannot afford to play loose with its possessions again this time around as it hopes to catch up to the Patriots in the divisional race.

But you can bet your bottom dollar that New England will licking its chops to exploit Cook's growing weakness this weekend.

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Alex Brasky
ALEX BRASKY

Alex Brasky is editor of Bills Digest and host of the Buffalo Pregame podcast. He has been on the Bills beat the past six seasons and now joins Sports Illustrated hoping to expand his coverage of Buffalo’s favorite football team.

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