If the Bills are to finally deliver a Lombardi Trophy to their fans, it’ll likely hinge on gargantuan efforts by familiar figures such as Cook and quarterback Josh Allen, but Buffalo’s upcoming season is in so many ways a restart for the organization.
Despite a franchise-record seven straight postseasons made, the Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott following last season’s Divisional Round exit and replaced him by promoting offensive coordinator Joe Brady to the top spot.
Cook, who has played under Brady since 2023, has noticed a renewed spirit during the team’s offseason with Brady in a different role.
“It’s just a new energy in the building,” Cook said. “It’s gonna always be like that, I feel like, when you have a new head coach coming in, a young one, too, at that. Joe [is] a young head coach coming in, his first year being a head coach. He’s got new energy, that’s how I feel like.”
The Bills are also moving into a different home, the new Highmark Stadium, a place Cook would like to put his stamp on.
“For me, it’s just simple: In a new stadium, you get to break new records,” he pointed out.
Cook’s mantra in Buffalo is all about looking forward. The Bills have a new stadium, a new head coach and a new mission. Past failures will not prevent Cook and Co. from finally breaking through this season. Similarly, Cook’s many past accolades won’t make the task at hand any easier.
Cook, last season’s rushing yards leader with 1,621 on the way to a third straight Pro Bowl, is instead intent to start from scratch, hoping he finds the right recipe for continued individual success and the team’s first-ever Super Bowl triumph.
“I won the rushing title, but this year [is] a new year, so that don’t matter no more,” Cook said. “I hear it all the time. ‘You won the league rushing title, you won it, you won it.’ I tell everybody it’s over now, so let’s just flip the page and let’s try to go do it again. Just get your mind right, just do it again, that’s all.”
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