Ty Johnson (hamstring) remains limited Tuesday

Johnson was limited in practice throughout the week after missing the Bills’ opener versus Houston. James Cook’s receiving role didn’t change much with Johnson out. Instead, Ray Davis and Frank Gore Jr. picked up a few extra routes each. Neither player has much fantasy appeal, even if Johnson remains out.

We’ll have a better idea of if Johnson can go for Week 2 on Tuesday — when the Bills will run an actual practice. Johnson didn’t return to practice until the Friday ahead of Week 1 as he’s nursed this hamstring injury throughout most of training camp. If he does go, he’ll step in as Buffalo’s third-down back. The Bills mostly used Frank Gore Jr. there in the second half during Week 1’s win.

He came on to the practice field for the first time since suffering the injury in training camp on Friday, but it was too little, too late. Ray Davis will likely pick up extra snaps and James Cook will be more involved in the passing game in Week 1 in a tough matchup. Also inactive for the Bills are: WR Skyler Bell, OT Jude Bowry, G Ar’maj Reed-Adams, DL T.J. Sanders, OLB Mike Danna and S Jalon Kilgore.

Johnson returned to practice on Friday after missing the first two sessions of the week with the hamstring issue. One practice might not be enough to get him on the field for Week 1, but it means he shouldn’t miss much more than Buffalo’s opening game. If he is ruled out, James Cook would likely pick up some extra work on passing downs.

It sure looks like the hamstring strain that Johnson suffered more than a month ago is going to keep him sidelined for the Bills’ season opener against the Texans. Starting RB James Cook was expected to play a larger role in the passing game this year. With Johnson sidelined, Cook could hog passing down snaps.

Johnson went down while running a route on August 9th. He resumed running roughly two weeks ago, but has not yet rejoined his teammates in drills. Although Johnson is not on the fantasy radar himself, he has hogged passing down snaps in recent seasons. Starting RB James Cook has been expected to take on a larger receiving role this season, and Johnson’s potential absence adds credence to that idea.

Neither did Ty Johnson (knee), with both players still having plenty of time to get back before next Sunday’s Week 1 game against the Texans. It’s hard to tell how seriously to take these because Joe Brady has been a brick wall on injury questions, but we’ll get a better indication next week when injury reports start to hit.

No decision has been made about Johnson’s availability for Week 1, per Brady. His absence would probably make James Cook a top-half RB1 due to added PPR potential. The Bills have been downright quiet about injuries this offseason and Johnson has been no exception.

Johnson went down while running a route in practice on Saturday and immediately grabbed at the back of his right leg. He appeared to be grabbing at the lowest section of his hamstring, but both the back of his knee and the highest point of his calf are possible. Johnson logged a 65 percent third-down snap share and a 56 percent two-minute-drill snap share last season. Starting RB James Cook (19 percent and 31 percent) and fellow backup RB Ray Davis (16 percent and 13 percent) were also involved in both scenarios. If this is a serious injury that causes Johnson to miss time, it could meaningfully raise Cook’s fantasy-scoring ceiling.

That could be very interesting news for James Cook’s value in PPR leagues. Cook caught 33 passes last year and has broken 40 catches once in four seasons. Ty Johnson has been the team’s third-down back for most of the last two years when healthy, but probably won’t get enough receptions for this to make him more fantasy-interesting.