James Cook was playing out of position, but he was still confident. Usually a running back for the Buffalo Bills, Cook was lined up at quarterback. He saw his receiver, Nasir Marshall, and the pair knew just what to do.
The position is looked at as a strength of the roster heading into the 2024 season, which will be offensive coordinator Joe Brady’s first full season on the job in Buffalo.
“James Cook winked at me,” Marshall said. “I was like, ‘All right, this is my time to shine.’ I went deep. Scored. And I just believed in myself.”
Usually, Marshall plays quarterback, safety, cornerback or middle linebacker in Niagara Falls. But on Tuesday, Marshall, who is 8 years old, said he was “just blessed” to play with Cook and score a touchdown.
Cook hosted three days of kids’ football camps across New York this week, near Albany, Rochester and Buffalo. His Buffalo camp took place Tuesday at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute.
Campers ages 6 to 16 spent a few hours on the field running through different drills, and even getting to play some seven-on-seven with Cook, who played quarterback throughout the day.
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“Just giving back is always good,” Cook said. “If I make their day, that’s a good thing.”
The camp was run by FlexWork Sports with sponsorship from Community Bank. FlexWork said there were 333 participants registered for the camp in Buffalo. Kids were split up into different age groups before rotating through stations from about 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Cook ended each round by huddling up with the kids and yelling “Hard work!” on the count of three. While he never went to a camp like this growing up, he hoped each participant left with a lesson.
“Just keep working hard, and you can make it,” Cook said.
It wasn’t a perfect day for Cook at quarterback.
As the No. 3 tight end on the active roster, Morris has to be prepared to step in for either Dawson Knox or Dalton Kincaid, who are used in different ways.
Elliot Malick, 7, intercepted Cook and ran it all the way back to the opposite end zone.
“Really cool. I’ve never done that – well, I’ve done in a game,” Malick said. “It was fun.”
Malick, who typically plays quarterback, was up on defense when he saw his opportunity.
“I saw the ball coming to me,” Malick said. “I thought I could catch it, and I caught it, and I thought I could go. So I went, and I scored.”
The camp was a surprise for 8-year-old Dexter Whitman. Whitman plays quarterback and wide receiver for his football team in Amherst. His mom signed him up as a surprise.
The middle three is looking just as stout if not stouter this season. Connor McGovern moves over to center to replace Mitch Morse, and David Edwards takes over at left guard.
Whitman also caught a touchdown pass from Cook.
“So, he threw it a little bit high, and then I just leaped and grabbed it and caught it, and got the touchdown,” Whitman said. “It was amazing.”
Reese Johnson doesn’t play football, but she loves seeing how Cook “can catch a ball in really rough conditions.” It made her want to learn more, directly from the running back.
“I really like watching James Cook play football on the TV,” she said. “So, I asked my dad if I could come, and he said ‘Sure.’ … It’s really cool.”
Darion Brown said Cook is his favorite player. He loved when the running back once did a flip to celebrate a touchdown in the end zone. Brown wanted to sign up for the camp as soon as he heard about it.
The Bills love what they saw last season from Connor McGovern, who they signed in March 2023 as a prime free-agent acquisition from Dallas. And while McGovern gives Morse proper respect, he has no apprehension about moving from guard to center this season. “I would say center is my natural position,” McGovern said. “So it’s just going back home.”
“I just wanted see an NFL player, because I haven’t seen an NFL player in my life,” Brown said.
It lived up to his expectations.
“It feels good, because it feels good to be on James Cook’s team today,” Brown said.