Johnson has been sidelined since a leg injury in early August. His ongoing absence raises questions about how much of his passing-down workload will shift to James Cook and Ray Davis once the season begins.
Johnson left practice early with a knee injury on August 8 during 1-on-1 drills at Buffalo’s new stadium. He immediately grabbed his leg and was helped off by trainers, after which he missed all three of Buffalo’s preseason games as the exact nature of the injury remained unclear for weeks.
Ty Johnson’s hamstring timeline
Johnson did not practice Thursday, and a day earlier he sat out Wednesday’s session. He carries an “unspecified” status into Sunday, with the designation eventually settled on a hamstring injury and an estimated return date of September 13, game day.
Head coach Joe Brady indicated in late August that Johnson had resumed sprinting in individual workouts and was in a good head space. Johnson had not rejoined team drills as of Thursday, and the Friday practice report will likely determine his availability against Houston. He remains on Buffalo’s 53-man roster and has not been placed on injured reserve or the physically unable to perform list.
If Johnson misses another practice Friday, his regular-season debut could slip beyond Week 1.
Buffalo Bills running back depth behind James Cook
Cook remains Buffalo’s lead back and led the NFL in rushing yards in 2025. Ray Davis serves as the early-down complement, and practice-squad back Frank Gore Jr. worked as the only other healthy running back at Thursday’s session. This setup mirrors the Wild Card win over Jacksonville last January, when Johnson was out and Buffalo elevated Gore for depth.
Cook handled 57 percent of Buffalo’s running back snaps last season, with Johnson at 26 percent and Davis at 17 percent, according to Rotowire’s snap-count data. Without Johnson, Cook’s workload on passing downs is expected to grow, Davis would take on a larger complementary role, and Gore would serve as the emergency option behind them, with limited experience beyond those postseason snaps.
Johnson signed a two-year, $5 million contract with Buffalo in March 2025 and posted 200 rushing yards and 263 receiving yards last season in a change-of-pace role behind Cook.
Johnson, a sixth-round pick out of Maryland in 2019, rushed for 2,635 yards on 348 carries across four college seasons. The 5-foot-10, 210-pound back moved from Detroit to the Jets before landing in Buffalo in 2023, carving out a niche as a change-of-pace runner who catches passes out of the backfield rather than a between-the-tackles workhorse.
If Johnson remains out of practice Friday, his Week 1 status against Houston could remain in question until closer to game day.
