JamesCook

News: 1 day agoCook is present for Monday's practice but not in uniform as he seeks a new contract, Katherine Fitzgerald of The Buffalo News reports.

Spin: He reported for June minicamp and the start of training camp before switching things up Sunday and seemingly moving to a "hold in" approach -- whereby he shows up to practice and meetings but doesn't do on-field work. When reporters asked him Sunday why he wasn't practicing, Cook simply said "business," a one-word answer that was also his response to the beat writers' other questions. In any case, his absence from practice frees up more first-team reps for Ray Davis and Ty Johnson.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Cook enters his fourth NFL season as one of the trickiest evaluations in fantasy. On one hand, Cook operates in a three-headed committee (albeit as the starter), which limited his carries (19th among RBs last season), targets (34th), touches (22nd) and total yardage (21st) last season. On the other, he's an explosive playmaker (4.87 YPC) in an elite offense who tied for the NFL lead 16 rushing touchdowns in 16 regular season games last season. Cook is obviously a strong bet for touchdown regression to the mean (especially considering he had nine TDs during his first two seasons), but the 25-year-old gets enough run in a great offense to produce starting-caliber fantasy numbers. Value him as a fringe top-15 back.