The Buffalo Bills have grown accustomed to spending the first month of the season leaning on backups stepping up on a depleted defense.

James Cook caught a touchdown pass and ran for two scores and the Buffalo Bills routed Miami 31-10 on Thursday night, with Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa leaving early because of a concussion.

A year after making the cut to successfully resume his football career following a near-death experience, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin reached a new plateau in his comeback in being selected a season-opening starter.

Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott announced on Thursday that linebacker Matt Milano is out indefinitely and will miss at least the first few months of the season with a torn left bicep in what becomes the starter’s latest setback after missing a majority of last season with a broken leg.

Olympic gold medal wrestler Gable Steveson is seeking to trade the mat for the gridiron by signing a standard undrafted rookie free agent contract with the Buffalo Bills.

The Buffalo Bills have agreed to trade their top receiving threat, Stefon Diggs, to the Houston Texans in an offseason deal, a person with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press.

The Buffalo Bills' season ended in familiar fashion.

Neither frigid blowing winds, the prospect of another 2 feet of snow being dumped on the region nor an Erie County-imposed travel ban could prevent the Buffalo Bills from showing up for practice.

Mother Nature might not be through complicating the Buffalo Bills’ playoff schedule, leaving coach Sean McDermott assessing his options.

Josh Allen threw for 233 yards with touchdowns running and throwing, the Buffalo Bills kicked a go-ahead field-goal with 1:54 to go and then hold on for a 20-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott says he recognizes his mistakes while also noting he still has the support of the team in light of a questionable comparison he made four years ago in crediting the 9/11 hijackers for their coordination.

Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott has acknowledged regret for crediting the 9/11 hijackers for their coordination during a team meeting four years ago.

The Buffalo Bills have fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey with the Josh Allen-led attack stagnating over a six-week stretch and the three-time defending AFC East champions falling further out of the playoff picture.

Wil Lutz got a do-over and kicked a 36-yard field goal as time expired, and the Denver Broncos won their third straight by rallying for a 24-22 victory over the sloppy, turnover-prone Buffalo Bills.

Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott expressed relief in saying initial tests indicate Damien Harris is trending in a positive direction after a neck injury led to the running back being taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Buffalo Bills edge rusher Von Miller says it’s a “safe bet” that he’ll make his season debut against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in London.

Buffalo Bills starting safety Jordan Poyer was ruled out from playing against the Miami Dolphins this weekend, potentially opening the door for Damar Hamlin to appear in his first regular-season game since going into cardiac arrest during a game in January.

Damar Hamlin has little more to prove to Bills coach Sean McDermott in the third-year safety’s bid to resume his football career after a near-death experience during a game at Cincinnati in January.

Stefon Diggs was back on the field practicing, and Bills coach Sean McDermott said whatever lingering issues from last season that raised concern and confusion over the absence of Buffalo’s top receiver a day earlier have been resolved.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen declined to push the panic button while explaining how unresolved issues stemming from last season led receiver Stefon Diggs to show his displeasure by skipping the team’s start of mandatory practices.

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin eased his way back onto the practice field by taking part in individual drills and stretching sessions during the team's voluntary minicamp some five months after having a near-death experience on the field.

The Buffalo Bills say defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is taking a year off from coaching but plans to return for the 2024 season.

The Chiefs have two coaches on their staff that have been head coaches in defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and quarterbacks coach Matt Nagy.

The Buffalo Bills showed signs of taking a step back despite a season in which they matched a franchise record with 13 wins and won their third straight AFC East title.

The Buffalo Bills ended a season in which they overcame much adversity by producing a dud in a 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and the divisional round of the playoffs.

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin made his first public appearance Sunday since going into cardiac arrest three weeks ago during a game.

A family spokesman for Damar Hamlin tells The Associated Press the Buffalo Bills safety still faces a long rehabilitation despite enjoying a remarkable recovery some three weeks after having to be resuscitated on the field during a game in Cincinnati.

The Buffalo Bills have received a much-needed jolt of good news.

The Buffalo Bills’ top pass-rusher Von Miller will miss the remainder of the season after having surgery to repair an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

A person with direct knowledge of Von Miller’s injury told The Associated Press that tests showed no tear to the anterior cruciate ligament in the injured right knee of the Buffalo Bills star pass-rusher.

Buffalo Bills edge rusher Von Miller injured his right knee in the second quarter and was ruled out for the rest of the game against the Detroit Lions.

Josh Allen threw a go-ahead, 5-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs late in the first half and Buffalo beat the Cleveland Browns 31-23 after the NFL moved the Bills’ home game to Detroit due to several feet of snow blanketing western New York.

Bills coach Sean McDermott is trying to keep things light as a major snowstorm hits Buffalo and disrupts the team's schedule.

The NFL is relocating the Bills home game against the Cleveland Browns to Detroit on Sunday because of a lake-effect snowstorm set to hit the Buffalo region.

Bills coach Sean McDermott says the decision on whether quarterback Josh Allen will play is an “hour-to-hour situation.”.

Bills coach Sean McDermott says Josh Allen will miss practice due to an injury to his throwing elbow, but the star quarterback could play against the NFC North-leading Minnesota Vikings this weekend.

Josh Allen is nursing a sore right throwing elbow, leaving cause for concern over the Buffalo Bills starter’s status against the NFC North-leading Minnesota Vikings this weekend.

Bills starting safety Jordan Poyer elected to drive to Kansas City for Buffalo's game against the Chiefs because he wasn't medically cleared to fly because of the aftereffects of experiencing a punctured lung.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Chiefs counterpart Patrick Mahomes have one of the best young rivalries in the NFL.

Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey is not going to apologize for the passion he has for football and for his players battling in the 90-plus degree South Florida heat.

The agent for Buffalo Bills safety Micah Hyde says the team plans to place the starter on season-ending injured reserve because of a neck injury.

Buffalo Bills cornerback Dane Jackson was released from the hospital after tests revealed he sustained no major injury to his neck or spinal cord when he was struck by a teammate.

Buffalo Bills cornerback Dane Jackson suffered a neck injury in a collision with a teammate and was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Von Miller will always carry fond memories of his brief and successful stint with the Los Angeles Rams, where he won his second Super Bowl last season.

San Diego State football coach Brady Hoke says he didn’t know star punter Matt Arazia had been accused of participating in the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at an off-campus party in October until a civil lawsuit was filed last week.

In the face of a major public backlash and internal questions over the decision to award Matt Araiza the punting job, the Buffalo Bills reversed course by cutting the rookie on Saturday, two days after a lawsuit was filed alleging the player and two college teammates gang-raped a teenager last fall.

Florida International University says football player Luke Knox has died.

Dozens of players and staff from professional Buffalo sports teams visited the scene of Saturday's mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket, where they laid flowers, dished out food and handed out groceries.

A year after having to rely solely on virtual visits the NFL returned to a normal spring evaluation process.

The Buffalo Bills are lobbying the NFL's competition committee to change the overtime rules for playoff games.

Even the winning coach, in this case Andy Reid, is questioning the NFL’s overtime setup.

Josh Allen walked off the field inside Arrowhead Stadium a year ago juggling the disappointment of an AFC tile game loss to the Chiefs with a profound sense of optimism about the future of his up-and-coming Buffalo Bills.

The Buffalo Bills are no longer the Patriots patsy in preparing to host New England in a wild-card playoff game on Saturday night.

The Buffalo Bills clinched their second consecutive AFC East title after Devin Singletary scored twice in the final 8:21 in a 27-10 win over the New York Jets.

NFL coaches are taking precautions beyond the league’s COVID-19 protocols to help ensure players are available for games.

Another 21 NFL players were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday, including Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill, cornerback Rashad Fenton and tight end Blake Bell.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen is struggling in attempting to assess the inconsistencies which have plagued Buffalo's offense over the past two months.

Reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Chase Young suffered a potentially serious right knee injury, putting a damper on Washington’s big win against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Josh Allen shook off the rust from a bye week off and a shaky first half to throw touchdown passes on consecutive second-half drives in leading the Buffalo Bills to a 26-11 win over the Miami Dolphins.

Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry has a simple test for how sore he is after plowing through and over NFL defenders.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is putting behind the jitters he experienced during a season-opening dud against Pittsburgh and focusing his attention on playing at Miami this weekend.

Receivers Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis are among four Buffalo Bills players who must spend at least five days away from the team facility after having close contact with a trainer who tested positive.

Wide receiver Cole Beasley continued his crusade against vaccinations and the NFL’s COVID-19 policies as the Buffalo Bills opened training camp, though he attempted to sidestep questions about his stance.

From players getting COVID-19 vaccinations to relaxed coronavirus protocols to lineup issues, particularly at quarterback, the NFL faces a multitude of questions as training camps open.

Washington pass rusher Montez Sweat says he isn't a fan of the team attempting to persuade players to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

FILE - Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo addresses the media during a news conference at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., in this Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, file photo. “That game," Brady said Monday, “is one of my least favorite football memories.”He hopes he can reflect on Sunday with a bit more joy. Brady will once again lead his offense against Spagnuolo's defense, only this time it will be his Tampa Bay Buccaneers facing the defending champion Chiefs in the Super Bowl. It also will be a rematch of a game earlier this season, when once more Spagnuolo kept Brady off balance as Kansas City coasted to a 27-24 victory in Tampa Bay. All traits that Mathieu shares with the entire Chiefs defense.

Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu (32) returns an interception during the second half of an NFL divisional round football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, in Kansas City. After helping the Chiefs win their first Super Bowl in five decades last season, Mathieu has followed up with what can only be described as the best season of his career. On a quarter of snaps this season, he's lined up in the deep safety spot. You know that if you feed something to Tyrann, he’s going to get it and he’s going to know why,” Spagnuolo said. “I think any position on the field allows you the chance to make plays,” Mathieu said.

But all are credited with providing a steady helping hand, a sturdy shoulder and a willing ear to their team’s current head coach. PETTINEPettine went 10-22 (.313) as head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 2014-15, before joining Matt LaFleur, who was named Packers head coach in 2018 after just two seasons as an offensive coordinator, a year each with the Rams and Titans. Arians brought along Bowles, whom he coached at Temple in the mid-1980s and who had been his defensive coordinator in Arizona from 2013-14. It began with Frazier saying he didn’t want McDermott to make the same mistakes he did as a first-time head coach. It’s a business with a lot of egos, a lot of people concerned with who gets the credit.”SPAGNUOLOSpagnuolo, 61, compiled an 11-41 record (.212) as head coach of the St. Louis Rams from 2009-11 and as interim head coach of the New York Giants in 2017, when he went 1-3.

The Kansas City Chiefs won their first NFL title since 1970 when they beat San Francisco in last year's Super Bowl. What we get Sunday is a matchup of dynamic offenses and overlooked defenses, the top two teams in the conference. Kansas City (15-2) has the confidence of a reigning champion and a charisma few NFL teams can match. That could provide an edge over Bills rookie Tyler Bass — except that Bass has been very reliable all season. Buffalo punter Corey Bojorquez and Kansas City rookie Johnny Townsend were two of the most dependable in the AFC.

Funny thing: Even after firing him, Reid suspected deep down that McDermott was destined for big things. McDermott has the long-suffering Buffalo Bills playing in their first AFC championship game since beating Kansas City on Jan. 23, 1994, when they advanced to their fourth straight Super Bowl. They love football in Buffalo and he's really done a nice job with that whole program.”Not surprisingly, the job McDermott has done with the Bills neatly parallels the job Reid has done in Kansas City. Both have surrounded them with playmakers, such as the Bills' Stefon Diggs and the Chiefs' Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. McDermott never harbored any animosity toward Reid when he was fired from the Eagles on Jan. 15, 2011.

“You can make a very good decision and have a bad result and you can make a bad decision and have a good result,” said Frank Frigo, the co-founder of EdjSports, a data company that has created its own customizable model for decision making in the NFL. HOW FIGURE OUTThere are several models for decision making and they typically agree on most calls, although there are slight differences. Calls that increase win probability are good and those that decrease it are bad. That decision cost Cleveland 5 percentage points in EdjSports’ win probability. That decision cost the Titans 13.7 percentage points in win probability.

Buffalo Bills' Micah Hyde (23) celebrates with teammates after an NFL divisional round football game against the Baltimore Ravens Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Leslie Frazier’s faith in his Bills defense never wavered even at the lowest point of Buffalo’s season. It was mid-November and the Bills were entering their bye week on the heels of a 32-30 defeat at Arizona. In the NFC, the Packers are allowing an average 306 yards offense over their past seven outings. Here comes Patrick Mahomes, should he clear the NFL’s concussion protocol, and the league’s top-ranked offense.

FILE - Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) talks with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) following a 24-17 Ravens win in an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y., in this Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, file photo. It happened in the 2018 season opener, when the then-raw rookie Bills quarterback was shoved into the Ravens' sideline. Much like Jackson, Allen prefers putting the past behind him and focusing on the next challenge. “We’ve had our backs against the wall since the Pittsburgh game,” Harbaugh said. The Bills limited the Ravens to only 118 yards rushing in last year’s meeting, a 24-17 Ravens win.

FILE - Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich stands on the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland, in this Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, file photo. Reich, a former quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, returns to Orchard Park, N.Y. for an NFL wild-card football game against the Bills on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. This week will be different, though, as Reich takes his new team to his old stomping grounds for Saturday's wild-card game. But when Josh McDaniels backed out of his deal to join the Colts, Reich was perfectly positioned to return to another of his favorite cities, Indianapolis. “We’re each our best when we’re ourselves," Colts quarterback Philip Rivers said.

While the Chiefs get another week’s rest, the six other AFC playoff teams get going this weekend. For just the second time since the 1970 league merger, every team in the AFC playoffs has at least 11 wins. Last Lombardi: Super Bowl 54, 31-20 over the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 2, 2020, at Miami. Last Lombardi: Super Bowl 43, 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Feb. 1, 2009, at Tampa, Florida. Their pass rush is nearly nonexistent with 19 sacks, the fewest by a playoff team since Denver had 19 in 1979.

DENVER – Donning gray caps that declared them AFC East champions for the first time since 1995, the Buffalo Bills acted like this was old hat. “To be the team and to be the quarterback on the team that does it, obviously feels really good. “But there’s still a lot on the table.”Buffalo coach Sean McDermott said he received a congratulatory email from Marv Levy, the last Bills coach to win the AFC East. He also missed the 51-yard field goal attempt way to the right on Denver’s opening drive. Broncos: visit the Los Angeles Chargers, who they rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat on Nov. 1 with a touchdown as time ran out.

The NFL's ranks of undefeated teams should thin by one Tuesday night, Oct. 13, 2020, when the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans finally meet in a rescheduled game. (AP Photo/David Berding, File)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The NFL's ranks of undefeated teams should thin by one Tuesday night when the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans finally meet in a rescheduled game. The NFL first postponed, then rescheduled their Oct. 4 game with Pittsburgh to Oct. 25, and their game with the Bills pushed back two days. “As a team that’s off to a good start, we feel like we’ve got a good thing rolling here and we want to play,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said. The Bills will be the first team to play the Titans since the NFL closed Tennessee's facility Sept. 29.

The NFL has updated its gameday protocols by requiring every coach and staff member in the bench area to wear a mask and reducing the size of each teams travel party. Owners also will have to follow COVID-19 testing requirements to gain access to the locker room, field or team charter. We have been really fortunate that cases of COVID-19 are very low across the league, Goodell said Tuesday. It is a testament to the plans, but most importantly to the diligence of the players, the teams and their staffs. I believe that we may be having a lot of teams that will start with no fans in the beginning this season, and then evolve to fans, Goodell said.

The Buffalo Bills have signed coach Sean McDermott to a multiyear contract extension. A person with direct knowledge told the Associated Press the contract is a four-year extension that runs through the 2025 season. The Bills have finished near the top of the league in most defensive categories in recent seasons; from 2018-19, the Bills allowed the fewest yards in the NFL (296.2 per game). In 2019, Buffalo finished second in points allowed (16.2), third in yards allowed (4,772) and fourth in passing yards allowed (3,123). He is the first Bills coach to receive a contract extension since Dick Jauron in 2008 though Jauron was fired the following year.

Butler forward Sean McDermott (22) shoots next to Villanova coach Jay Wright during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Butler forward Sean McDermott (22) shoots next to Villanova coach Jay Wright during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. – Butler guard Kamar Baldwin ignored the anxious fans, the tie score and the running clock Wednesday night. 19 Butler a 79-76 victory over No. Baldwin, who was 5 of 15 from the field, claimed he knew it was good as soon as the ball left his hand. Butler sent two maintenance workers up to the catwalk, trying to find a solution that would allow play to resume.