Cole Bishop smiled and laughed upon realizing he had played alongside six different safety counterparts this season.

“I didn’t even really know that,” Bishop said earlier this week.

Bishop has been the iron man of the Buffalo Bills’ defensive secondary, starting all 17 games and playing a team-high 895 defensive snaps (91%).

The Bills were banking on returning starter Taylor Rapp to help bring Bishop along in 2025 after just five starts in his rookie season. But Rapp injured his knee early in the season and was put on injured reserve after just six games.

Since then, Bishop has lined up opposite Jordan Poyer, Damar Hamlin, Jordan Hancock, Cam Lewis, and Darnell Savage. Poyer went down with a hamstring injury in the Wild Card win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, which means Bishop is set for another new running mate on Saturday when the Bills take on the No. 1-seed Denver Broncos at Empower Field.

Hamlin could be in line for his first start this season after missing the last two months with a torn pectoral muscle. He returned to practice last week and has been ramping up on the field with hopes of getting activated off injured reserve for the game.

Bishop is no stranger to lining up alongside Hamlin. The pair started together last year in the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Bishop has had to be adaptable this season because of all the different players he lined up with. He said his role changes depending on who he’s out there with.

“It’s definitely not as challenging as people might say,” Bishop said. “I mean there’s challenges within it. Depending on who you’re playing with, like, sometimes, if I’m a bigger body, I’m doing more of the strong role at times. Depending on who you’re playing with you have different roles in certain coverages.”

If Hamlin isn’t the starter next to Bishop, Hancock could be the move. He filled in for Poyer last week and has played in a limited role at safety throughout the season. Lewis mostly plays the dime safety role in Sean McDermott’s defense, but started next to Bishop a few weeks ago against the Philadelphia Eagles. Savage started and played most of the game against the New York Jets in the season finale.

Poyer’s impact has been closely linked to the production jump from Bishop, the 23-year-old 2024 second-round pick.

“I think everybody being on the same page is huge,” Bishop said. “So (Poyer) being here in this defense for so long, and being able to provide ideas and different looks that have worked in the past, is definitely big.”

Bishop was also able to tap into former Bills All-Pro safety Micah Hyde late last season when the veteran returned for a season-ending stint on the practice squad.

The post-Poyer/Hyde plan at safety was always an unsettling proposition for the Bills because of how good the duo was during their run together. Bishop underperformed early in the season after another training camp injury set him back. There were real concerns whether he’d win a starting job in August when he played in the final preseason game, which is usually a proving ground for the majority of the roster unlikely to make the team.

Once Poyer took over for Rapp, Bishop has looked like a different player. Even when Poyer hasn’t been out there, Bishop has established himself as one of Buffalo’s best defenders. Among NFL safeties with at least 800 snaps this season, Bishop ranks No. 1 in passer rating allowed when targeted (37.1).

This week, the Bills face quarterback Bo Nix, who has struggled against disguised coverage as a sophomore. He’s thrown the second-most interceptions (5) when the defense changes the picture after the snap. Last week against the Jaguars, Liam Coen said that Lawrence and their pass offense struggled to get going because the Bills switched things up immediately after the snap.

It’s taken some time for Bishop to perfect his responsibilities in Buffalo’s defense.

“Definitely when you first start out, it’s harder (to disguise), because you have to worry about what you’re doing, what the guys around you are doing, and then being able to then disguise that look,” he said. “That’s kind of the last step of it, to an extent.”

Bishop’s three interceptions were the most by any Bills defender this season. He added another one late in the fourth quarter to secure Buffalo’s win in Jacksonville. Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White tipped a Trevor Lawrence pass, and Bishop was there to pick it off.

Whether the Bills turn to Hamlin, Hancock, Savage, or Lewis in place of Poyer, Bishop won’t blink.

“Next man up,” he said. “I trust everybody in our room, in all rooms. So I think whoever’s out there is gonna do great.”