ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo's James Cook reflected on his offseason contract dispute with pride, a sense of unfinished business and a nod to Philadelphia's Saquon Barkley.
Though the Bills' fourth-year running back might already be outperforming the four-year, $46 million contract extension
he signed in August following a week-long hold-in, the NFL’s rushing leader enters Week 17 feeling vindicated for banking on himself.“You got to do what you
got to do. You need to take care of your family, and that’s what I did,” Cook said Friday, referring to his contract dispute that included him skipping all of the team’s spring voluntary practices.
At the same time, Cook thinks he has more to prove.
“The job’s not even finished," he said. "So just keep going.”
With a career-best 1,532 yards rushing, Cook has a 43-yard lead over the Colts' Jonathan Taylor in what stands as a two-way race for the rushing title.
What’s fitting for Cook this weekend as the Bills (11-4) prepare to host the Eagles (10-5) on Sunday is him owing his on- and off-field achievements to Barkley. If not for the Philadelphia running back raising the payroll bar for all players at his position, Cook figured he might still be spinning his wheels while seeking a pay raise.
“He set the standard. He set the mark,” Cook said of Barkley turning his league-leading 2,005 yards rushing last year into a two-year contract $41.2 million extension that made him the NFL’s first running back to average more than $20 million a season.
“Last year, he set the rushing title," Cook added. "And I’m just trying to replicate it.”
Two of the NFL’s premier running backs will square off in expected sloppy conditions, with the forecast calling for a wintery mix of snow and rain Sunday.
In Buffalo, Cook has scored 12 touchdowns and topped 100 yards nine times while taking the load off quarterback Josh Allen and contributing to the Bills reaching the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season.
In Philadelphia, Barkley has found his footing and the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles appear to have rediscovered their balanced offensive identity.
Barkley has topped 100 yards twice in the past three games after doing so just once in the first 12. The Eagles have won two in a row and are coming off a 29-18 win over Washington during which they became the first team to clinch consecutive NFC East titles since they did so over a four-year span from 2001-04.
Barkley said he “never lost faith” in the offense or coordinator Kevin Patullo, who was criticized for the Eagles' sluggish start.
“It’s always not going to be pretty. The stat line isn’t always going to be 100 rushing yards,” he said. "When we get our running game going, we’re going to be a hard team to beat.”
Barkley noted he exchanged messages on Instagram with Cook this week.
“He's the leading rusher right now and I sent him a message, like, ‘Go finish,” he said. "He’s a guy who’s had a heck of a year. ... Super excited to go against him. Wish him the best, but not too well against our team.”
Barkley has an opportunity to thrive against a Bills defense that has allowed 150 or more yards rushing seven times this season, and will be missing three defensive tackles to injury.
The Bills, however, can counter with Cook, whose 12 TDs rushing are tied for fourth in the NFL.
Bills coach Sean McDermott praised Cook for emerging as a team leader and for how he didn’t get comfortable after signing a new contract.
“The week to week intensity is different than last year,” McDermott said. “He had some big games last year, but the look in his eye each week, the intensity that he shows up with, it’s really been influential on our whole football team.”
Jake Elliott used to be so automatic on field goals he earned the nickname Jake the Make. He has been off so much this season that he’s now looking over his shoulder.
Elliott missed both field goal attempts — three, if you include a 57-yard miss nullified by a penalty — last weekend, and is 17 of 24 overall this season.
“I’ve got to figure some stuff out,” Elliott said.
Sirianni continued to back Elliott by saying: “I have a ton of confidence in him and that he’ll rebound from whatever setbacks that he has.”
Sirianni might be from Jamestown, New York, some 75 miles south of Buffalo, but he grew up a fan of the Steelers rather than the Bills.
“It’s not any different for me,” he said of the homecoming, while noting he'll have plenty of friends and family in attendance.
As for who they'll be rooting for, Sirianni smiled and said: “They better root for us. ... If I see that they're wearing Bills stuff, we'll have words and they won't be invited the next time.”
Allen joked when asked what it would mean for Cook to win the NFL rushing title.
“It would mean a lot and then maybe no OTAs for anybody,” Allen said, noting Cook skipped all of Buffalo's voluntary spring sessions.
“You know, just get everyone fresh legs. No, I'm kidding," he added, before saying he believes his teammate is already underpaid. “Probably, yeah. But all he cares about is winning football games right now, and it's pretty awesome.”
___
AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston, in Philadelphia, contributed to this report.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
