Cook scores 3 TDs to help Bills rout Dolphins 31-10, Tagovailoa leaves with concussion

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Buffalo fans cheered so loudly in Hard Rock Stadium that Bills coach Sean McDermott was asked if it was a home game.

It wasn't. But Buffalo certainly gave fans who made the trip to South Florida plenty to celebrate Thursday night.

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

Tagovailoa left in the third quarter after colliding with defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf. Tagovailoa was quickly ruled out with the concussion, casting doubt on his season after a history of dealing with head injuries.

“Very sad. It’s the worst part of the game," Bills quarterback Josh Allen said. “Nothing but love and prayers to him and his family, and hopefully everyone is sending those because he's going to need them.”

Coach Mike McDaniel did not specify if the Dolphins will place Tagovailoa on injured reserve, saying the team would evaluate him more Friday.

“I'm just worried about my teammate like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We'll get more information tomorrow and then take it day by day from there.”

Allen, playing with a glove on his left non-throwing hand after hurting it in Buffalo's opener, completed 13 of 19 passes for 139 yards. He's 12-2 against the Dolphins, and the Bills are 14-2 against Miami since McDermott’s first year as head coach in 2017.

McDermott praised the outing from his defense, which had three turnovers and held Miami's high-flying offense to a touchdown and field goal despite missing several starters.

“Next man up. The guys did a great job,” McDermott said. “These guys work hard. Good things happen when you work hard, and sometimes the ball finds you like that.”

Cook caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Allen and scored on runs of 1 and 49 yards in the first half, flipping into the end zone when he gave the Bills a 24-7 lead. The three first-half touchdowns tied a team record.

“As long as they trust me, I’m going to get in the end zone,” Cook said.

Allen didn't appear limited by the left hand that he hurt after hurdling safety Budda Baker in Buffalo's opener against the Cardinals. He had his hand heavily wrapped before returning to finish that game and practiced all week with a glove to protect it.

After the game and before leaving the field, Allen held up his hand and flexed it in front of fans as if to display that it's not broken.

“Feels great,” Allen said later.

Backup Mitchell Trubisky replaced Allen late in the fourth Thursday with Buffalo up by 21.

Miami’s star receiver Tyreek Hill was held to three catches for 24 yards during a week in which he dominated national headlines. Hill was pulled from his sports car by Miami-Dade County police officers, pushed face-first onto a street and handcuffed during a traffic stop outside the Dolphins’ home stadium hours before their season opener.

Officer Danny Torres was placed on administrative duty as the department’s director launched an internal affairs investigation. Hill said he wants the officer fired, but the 30-year-old also acknowledged he could have handled the interaction better in the moment.

Buffalo scored 10 points off two first-half turnovers by Tagovailoa. Ja'Marcus Ingram intercepted Tagovailoa's pass on a tipped ball intended for receiver Grant DuBose on Miami's opening drive. Then Christian Benford picked off a pass on what appeared to be miscommunication between the quarterback and receiver Robbie Chosen. Both DuBose and Chosen arrived to the team after the preseason.

Tagovailoa thew another interception to Ingram trying to toss the ball out of bounds on Miami's opening drive of the third. Ingram returned the ball 31 yards for a score that put Buffalo up 31-10. It was Tagovailoa's third career game with three interceptions.

Tagovailoa ran for a first down with 4:36 in the third and collided head-first into Hamlin and hit his head on the ground.

Bills players, as well as Tagovailoa's teammates, immediately waved for trainers to come to the field. The fifth-year quarterback was helped to his feet after a few minutes and walked under his own power to the locker room with trainers after throwing for 145 yards and a 5-yard touchdown to De'Von Achane.

Tagovailoa was diagnosed with two concussions in 2022. Skylar Thompson replaced him Thursday.

“I'm not worried about anything that's out of my hands," McDaniel said. "I'm just worried about the human being. He'll drive the ship when we get the appropriate information.”

Bills: Middle linebacker and captain Terrel Bernard left with a pectoral injury in the first quarter and did not return.

Dolphins: Starting offensive linemen Terron Armstead and Rob Jones both left with shoulder injuries. ... Jeff Wilson Jr. left with an oblique injury and did not return.

Bills: Host Jacksonville on Monday, Sept. 23.

Dolphins: At Seattle on Sunday, Sept. 22.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Buffalo Bills cornerback Christian Benford (47) runs after intercepting a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Miami Dolphins running back De'Von Achane (28) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Buffalo Bills cornerback Ja'Marcus Ingram (46) reacts after scoring a touchdown after intercepting a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) looks to pass the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Buffalo Bills running back James Cook (4) scores a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Buffalo Bills running back James Cook (4) holds onto the ball to score a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) collides with Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin (3) during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. Tagovailoa was injured on the play. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) is assisted on the field during the second half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) is assisted on the field during the second half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Buffalo Bills running back James Cook (4) scores a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

NEW YORK (AP) — In what appears to be a sophisticated, remote attack, pagers used by hundreds of members of Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria Tuesday, killing at least nine people — including an 8-year-old girl — and wounding thousands more.

A U.S. official said Israel briefed the U.S. on the operation — in which small amounts of explosive secreted in the pagers were detonated — on Tuesday after it was concluded. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information publicly.

The Iran-backed militant group blamed Israel for the deadly explosions, which targeted an extraordinary breadth of people and showed signs of being a long-planned operation. Details on how the attack was executed are largely uncertain and investigators have not immediately said how the pagers were detonated. The Israeli military has declined to comment.

Here's what we know so far.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group’s members not to carry cellphones, saying they could be used by Israel to track the group's movements. As a result, the organization uses pagers to communicate.

A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press the exploded devices were from a new brand the group had not used before. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, did not identify the brand name or supplier.

Nicholas Reese, adjunct instructor at the Center for Global Affairs in New York University’s School of Professional Studies, explains smart phones carry a higher risk for intercepted communications in contrast to the more simple technology of pagers.

This type of attack will also force Hezbollah to change their communication strategies, said Reese, who previously worked as an intelligence officer, adding that survivors of Tuesday's explosions are likely to throw away "not just their pagers, but their phones, and leaving their tablets or any other electronic devices.”

Even with a U.S. official confirming it was a planned operation by Israel, multiple theories have emerged Tuesday around how the attack might have been carried out. Several experts who spoke with The Associated Press explained how the explosions were most likely the result of supply-chain interference.

Very small explosive devices may have been built into the pagers prior to their delivery to Hezbollah, and then all remotely triggered simultaneously, possibly with a radio signal.

By the time of the attack, “the battery was probably half-explosive and half-actual battery," said Carlos Perez, director of security intelligence at TrustedSec.

A former British Army bomb disposal officer explained that an explosive device has five main components: A container, a battery, a triggering device, a detonator and an explosive charge.

“A pager has three of those already,” explained the ex-officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he now works as a consultant with clients on the Middle East. “You would only need to add the detonator and the charge.”

After security camera footage appeared on social media Tuesday purporting to show one of the pagers explode on a man’s hip in a Lebanese market, two munitions experts offered opinions that corroborate the U.S. official's statement that the blast appeared to be the result of a tiny explosive device.

“Looking at the video, the size of the detonation is similar to that caused by an electric detonator alone or one that incorporates an extremely small, high-explosive charge,” said Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordinance disposal expert.

This signals involvement of a state actor, Moorhouse said. He adds that Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, is the most obvious suspect to have the resources to carry out such an attack.

N.R. Jenzen-Jones, an expert in military arms who is director of the Australian-based Armament Research Services, notes that Israel had been accused of carrying out similar operations in the past. Last year, AP reported that Iran accused Israel of trying to sabotage its ballistic missile program through faulty foreign parts that could explode, damaging or destroying the weapons before they could be used.

It would take a long time to plan an attack of this scale. The exact specifics are still unknown, but experts who spoke with the AP shared estimates ranging anywhere between several months to two years.

The sophistication of the attack suggests that the culprit has been collecting intelligence for a long time, Reese explained. An attack of this caliber requires building the relationships needed to gain physical access to the pagers before they were sold; developing the technology that would be embedded in the devices; and developing sources who can confirm that the targets were carrying the pagers.

And it's likely the compromised pagers seemed normal to their users for some time before the attack. Elijah J. Magnier, a Brussels-based veteran and a senior political risk analyst with over 37 years experience in the region, said he has had conversations with members of Hezbollah and survivors of Tuesday's pager attack. He said the pagers were procured more than six months ago.

“The pagers functioned perfectly for six months," Magnier said. What triggered the explosion, he said, appeared to be an error message sent to all the devices.

Based on his conversations with Hezbollah members, Magnier also said that many pagers didn’t go off, allowing the group to inspect them. They came to the conclusion that between 3 to 5 grams of a highly explosive material were concealed or embedded in the circuitry, he said.

Jenzen-Jones also adds that “such a large-scale operation also raises questions of targeting" — stressing the number of causalities and enormous impact reported so far.jenzen

“How can the party initiating the explosive be sure that a target’s child, for example, is not playing with the pager at the time it functions?” he said.

Hezbollah issued a statement confirming at least two members were killed in the bombings. One of them was the son of a Hezbollah member in parliament, according to the Hezbollah official who spoke anonymously. The group later issued announcements that six other members were killed Tuesday, though it did not specify how.

“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians,” Hezbollah said, adding that Israel will “for sure get its just punishment.”

People donate blood for those who were injured by their exploded handheld pagers, at a Red Cross center, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)