Everybody eats.
That’s the mantra the Buffalo Bills have adopted. And it’s true for Josh Allen, Khalil Shakir, James Cook, Ray Davis, Keon Coleman, Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox and even Ty Johnson.
Who am I forgetting?
Oh, right: Amari Cooper.
Has he eaten yet?
He has 136 receiving yards and a touchdown in his first four games with the Bills. If everyone eats, he seems a bit like the youngest child — getting elbowed out until there’s nothing left. The 30-year-old wideout is an established veteran, which is why Buffalo acquired him from Cleveland in mid-October. Since he joined the team, he has been hampered by a wrist injury, so he hasn’t had much time on the field with Allen. Cooper spent weeks as a limited participant in practice, missed Weeks 9 and 10, returned last week and is set to play Sunday against the Rams.
If you’re looking for signs that he and Allen are turning a corner, you can’t really find it on the stat sheet. Cooper had three targets for three catches and 12 yards against the 49ers in Week 13. But that’s hardly a fair vantage point, given the heavy snow in Buffalo that night.
Perhaps there was one catch that gave us a glimmer of chemistry — a throw that showed an unspoken connection between the two players: the touchdown pass. Speaking of stat sheets, this one didn’t show up for Cooper. But he threw it.
Near the end zone, Allen zipped a ball behind Cooper, who hauled in the pass with one hand. But at the instant that the 49ers stopped Cooper’s progress, Allen was standing there waiting for the ball. Cooper tossed it and Allen took the ball into the end zone.
It was an improvised hook and ladder.
“It’s got to be up there [with my favorite touchdowns],” Allen said postgame, sitting at the podium next to Cooper. “I wish he got credited with something there: an assist or a passing touchdown. … We made eye contact and he just pitched it and I had to make a play.”
“I figured he was over there because he wanted the ball, so I gave it to him,” Cooper said.
Their tandem postgame press conference, which followed Buffalo’s 35-10 win over the 49ers, was all smiles and giggles. They had an easy rapport.
“It’s always fun to win,” Cooper said of his time in Buffalo. “It’s always nice to be in a close-knit group — guys who love each other and spend a lot of time together. I’m just glad to be a part of it. … I played on a lot of teams, some good teams, some bad teams. This is definitely a scary team.”
All is well in Buffalo. The Bills are one of two teams to have clinched a playoff berth — and, by the way, they already beat that other playoff-bound team, the Kansas City Chiefs.
No one is concerned that Cooper isn’t rocketing upward in production or snaps, because that’s not how this offense operates. The Bills attack by whatever means necessary. And it just so happens that in Cooper’s short tenure, the run game has taken a major emphasis — the team rushed 34 times against Seattle in Week 8 and 38 times against the 49ers last weekend.
It’s realistic that Cooper never sniffs the 83.3 receiving yards per game he had with the Browns in 2023.
So what is realistic for Cooper?
We’ve seen the production of high-profile wideouts crater after a midseason trade. Look at Chase Claypool after the Steelers traded him to the Bears in 2023; Mohamed Sanu after the Falcons traded him to the Patriots in 2019; Golden Tate after the Lions traded him to the Eagles in 2018; Randy Moss after the Patriots traded him to the Vikings in 2010; and Roy Williams after the Cowboys traded him to the Lions in 2008.
With the Browns in 2024 (and — important context — with Deshaun Watson, the league’s worst starting quarterback), Cooper wasn’t up to his typical performance or production. He had just 250 yards and two touchdowns on 24 catches. For years, Cooper had been a WR1. When the Bills traded for him with just 11 games remaining on their regular-season schedule, they must have seen him as a player who could change the offense. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have swapped their third-round pick for Cooper and a sixth. It’s a lower price than the Jets paid for Davante Adams, who went for a third-rounder (that can become a second if Adams is a first- or second-team All Pro). Cooper went for a bigger price than what the Chiefs paid for DeAndre Hopkins (a fifth that becomes a fourth with a Super Bowl win).
When Cooper arrived in Buffalo, the coaches worked to minimize expectations. Now we can see why. Maybe their plan wasn’t to feed him — but to simply introduce him as another weapon in an offense full of them.
With the Bills, Cooper is averaging 2.1 yards of separation per target, and his receiving EPA is solid at 3.6. He even has 47 reception yards over expected. His catch rate (76.9%) is actually 19.6% over expected, per Next Gen Stats. There’s nothing wrong with what Cooper is doing. It’s possible that while everyone else eats, his time hasn’t quite come around — not since his debut when he scored a touchdown with 66 receiving yards. The only real issue might be his snap count, which has landed him at either WR3 and WR4 in the games he’s played.
Is this the Bills’ year to win the Super Bowl?
Perhaps there’s a mix of reasons why Cooper hasn’t been elite for either of his teams in 2024. His age, for starters. But in Cleveland, let’s chalk it up to the lack of passing production. In Buffalo, let’s chalk it up to “everyone eats,” a wrist injury and the difficulties of learning the playbook midseason.
But here’s the good news for the Bills and Cooper. They’re winning without 100-yard games from him, and winning seems to be what matters to Cooper. There’s no drama beyond that and, even if they lose a few games, the Bills won’t expect any drama. And there was a certain former Bills top wideout with whom that wasn’t a given.
Maybe Cooper will come on and help the Bills win a Super Bowl. Maybe he’ll just be one of the weapons. It’s not a major concern because the Bills look ready to win a championship with Cooper doing exactly what he’s been doing — waiting patiently for his turn to eat.
Prior to joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
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