David Cooper didn’t have much of a choice.
Carson Walter was supposed to start at safety, of course. The rising junior was coming off of a season with 100 tackles. But then he broke his tibia and fibula.
Cooper had heard about the play of a middle-schooler who was about to join his team. He had to put his trust in him.
“So I introduced Cole Bishop as my starting safety, a little skinny freshman,” Cooper said. “I mean, he couldn’t have been 150 pounds, 160 pounds, but he played hard, and that’s all that matters.”
Bishop ended up a four-year starter at Starr’s Mill High School, about an hour south of Atlanta. Cooper, now the head coach of the team, was Bishop’s position coach at the time. He saw Bishop’s journey, from Georgia to Utah and now to Buffalo.
“He probably got embarrassed more than he should have as a ninth-grader, but ultimately, that probably led him to what he is today,” Cooper told The Buffalo News. “The failures he experienced early kept driving him to get better and better and better and be the person he is today.”
A chance to learn and grow
It is a homecoming of sorts Monday night for Bishop.
His family moved from Massachusetts to Georgia when he was about 18 months old. Georgia is all he remembers.
Bishop wasn’t raised a Falcons fan, and his presence alone will up the number of Bills fans in Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday night.
Buffalo Bills rookie defensive tackle Deone Walker’s role could have been minimal this season. The Bills drafted another defensive tackle, T.J. Sanders, in the second round, and they signed free agent Larry Ogunjobi in March. They rotate several linemen each game, but Walker was coming off an injury-plagued season that cast doubt in scouts’ eyes that he’d be physically ready to meet the demands of the NFL.
Cooper will be there, sitting alongside Bishop’s family. Cooper estimates dozens of other Bishop fans are making the trip into the city. Bishop has no idea how many people are coming. He has been too focused on the game.
“It’ll be cool to see people after the game and everything,” Bishop said Thursday. “But for us, I mean, this is a normal game, or at least you try to make it like that. I mean, I’m going about my same process.”
The Monday night showdown comes at a time when Bishop is still making strides, now that he has added responsibilities.
Bishop, a 2024 second-round draft pick out of the University of Utah, worked his way to a starting role this season. Through five games, he logged 21 tackles (one for loss), one pass defended and one interception. He keeps his areas of improvement in perspective as he continues to work on other areas of his game.
The day after the Bills lost to the Patriots 23-20 last week in Orchard Park, coach Sean McDermott said Bishop is still navigating some of the growing pains of being a young player in the NFL.
Kickers have made 66 field goals of 50 or more yards through five weeks this season, on pace for 29 more than 2024 and 51 more than 2023. We’ve seen seven more field goals of 55-plus yards and 10 more attempts at that distance as teams continue to show more confidence in their kickers.
“I think what you saw (Sunday) night was a young player that kind of hit a couple of plays there that he wants back, especially towards the end of the game,” McDermott said Monday. “Prior to that, I thought he was playing well. Had shown signs of improvement. And when you’re dealing with a young player, you’re going to have some of those games or some moments in games that you want back.
“But that is all opportunities for him to learn, and then for us to continue to have him grow and move forward.”
A serious endeavor
In the Bills’ practice locker room, Bishop sits next to tight end Dalton Kincaid. Both are a little quieter, but they have plenty to talk about. The two overlapped at Utah.
Kincaid was drafted to the Bills one season before Bishop. Since then, he has been able to see Bishop grow.
In addition, linebacker Matt Milano (pectoral) has been ruled out of Monday night’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Kincaid said. “I got to see it in college, and then, now, seeing it translate over to the pros is pretty cool.”
At Utah, Bishop started fine-tuning the habits that would help him make it to the NFL. He went to yoga in the mornings to better his body. He focused on eating right, and off the field, he laid low.
“He wanted to move out of the complex with all his other players so they didn’t try to drag him out at night,” Cooper said. “That was kind of the point where I was like, ‘OK. He’s serious about this.’ ”
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack
Bishop stayed in touch with Cooper, and from time to time he’d watch Starr’s Mill’s film on Hudl to check in on his former team. But mostly, he watched his own film to prepare and prepare.
At the NFL level, Bishop still pours into his prep work to stay attentive.
In this week’s mailbag, Jay Skurski answers readers’ questions about Codrington, penalties, Matt Milano and much more.
His development was stunted in back-to-back training camps – by a shoulder injury in his rookie year in 2024, then by a quadriceps injury in camp this year. He had a rough go of it in the preseason, particularly in an exhibition game at Chicago, and McDermott openly wondered how much Bishop could do for the defense this season. Week by week, he responded. Though he hasn’t been a superstar, his play has improved.
Asked where he thinks Bishop has grown, Bills safeties coach Joe Danna paused.
“I don’t know. Probably a long list of things, to be honest with you, which is not a bad thing,” Danna said. “I think just overall being more comfortable in our system, being more comfortable in the NFL, just another year in it. I think that’s pretty natural for any second-year player.”
Danna also pointed to Bishop’s strong rapport with the rest of the safeties, especially fellow starter Taylor Rapp.
Bishop spent the offseason in Buffalo, as did Rapp. For Rapp, it was in part because his wife was expecting, and they wanted to stay in one place. For Bishop, it was, in part, to be around Rapp.
Veteran safety Jordan Poyer knows how important that relationship is. Now on the practice squad and primarily in a mentoring role, Poyer once fostered a similar rapport with his longtime running mate, former safety Micah Hyde. The two were the cornerstones of the Bills defense for years. As this new chapter of the Bills defense is unfolding, Poyer has kept a close eye on Bishop and Rapp.
“I think I told Sean (McDermott) a couple of weeks ago, just seeing them in the meeting rooms sitting together, seeing them, how they communicate, reminded me of young 2-3 and 2-1,” Poyer said, a reference to himself and Hyde.
Takeaways in bunches
Football has been part of Bishop’s life for as long as he can remember.
“I started playing tackle when I was 5, so it’s pretty much – it’s all I know,” Bishop said.
But even with plenty of playing experience, it took until his junior year for Bishop to log his first high school interception.
“He still hadn’t had an interception back there. He was just a tackling machine,” Cooper said.
Starr’s Mill was playing rival Griffin, and it was close late in the game. Griffin was going for it on fourth down, and Starr’s Mill called a timeout. Cooper gathered his defensive backs and told them to bat down anything they could. Usually quite coachable, Bishop didn’t listen. He picked it off in the end zone, and Starr’s Mill won the game.
“Maybe (I) should have knocked it down,” Bishop said. “But I had to get the first one. So, I got that out of the way. And then, had a lot of success the week after.”
The next week, Bishop had three picks.
“From that point on, I think he intercepted about every ball that was thrown his way,” Cooper said. “(He) always had to get that first one out of the way. So, I’m hoping with Buffalo, y’all get the same experience I got.”
Bishop hopes that’s the case, too. He logged his first NFL interception at a pivotal moment in the Bills’ Week 4 win over the New Orleans Saints, snaring a Chris Olave throw to Spencer Rattler near the goal line. Bishop diagnosed the play almost immediately and covered plenty of ground to get there, going from one side of the field to the other.
Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich saw the play as a building block.
“Things like that, being able to get your hand on the ball and bring it in in such a critical moment can create confidence and can really elevate a guy,” Babich said last month.
“It’s that first one, right? It’s that first of whatever it is, to where you’re like, ‘OK. I’ve got it now.’ Hopefully he turns into a magnet for the ball at this point moving forward.”
The Buffalo Bills can improve to 5-1 for just the third time in Sean McDermott’s nine-year tenure with a win on Monday night in Atlanta. They’ll have to do so against a Falcons defense that ranks No. 1 in the NFL in total yards allowed and passing yards allowed. Here are four keys to a Bills victory in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Bishop knows takeaways can come in bunches, and he is eager to see whether he can benefit from that. But he is staying focused on the fundamentals that brought him from Georgia to the NFL, in the meantime.
“I’m always trying to do what I can to help my team,” Bishop said. “I’m always trying to do my job, try to help the guys. I never want to let teammates down. But yeah, I’m just here to here to do everything I can.”
Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter
Sent weekly directly to your inbox!
* I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Katherine Fitzgerald
Sports reporter
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don’t have an account? Sign Up Today