Jackson cashes in on his carries

More carries would equal more production.

Bills running back Fred Jackson stood by that sentiment this season, even when he was getting lost in the positional shuffle.

Now, with 249 yards on 46 carries in the past two games, the man they call "Freddie J" in the Bills’ locker room is proving he was onto something.

"It’s nice to have a guy you can depend on back there," Bills coach Chan Gailey said. "That’s the one thing from Fred, you can depend on [him]. if he’s physically able, he’s mentally going to be into the ballgame and he is going to do what he can do to help your football team win. That’s a huge load off of our mind when you’ve got a guy like that, that you can depend on that way."

That didn’t appear to be the case at the start of the season, when the Bills were trying to juggle carries among three different backs. Jackson got just 20 carries in the first month. the Bills used since-traded Marshawn Lynch as the featured back for a couple of games and otherwise struggled to get a running game going in others.

After Lynch was shipped to Seattle, however, Jackson was reinstalled as the starter, a spot he earned last year with his first career 1,000-yard campaign. His workload saw even more of a boost when rookie C.J. Spiller went down with a hamstring injury two weeks ago against Detroit.

"It’s definitely tough to get three running backs involved. It’s a lot easier to do two," Jackson said.

"Getting more touches, I think, is going to help any running back be able to put up some more numbers. the more touches you get the better you get in the game. [That] is how I’ve always felt about playing."

Jackson’s 116 yards and two touchdowns were almost lost Sunday after the air show quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and receiver Stevie Johnson put on. But a successful offense, especially one in the approaching Buffalo winter, will need the threat of a run game. That’s a threat Jackson, who has a career 4.5 yards per carry average — has provided in recent weeks.

"the biggest thing with [Jackson] is you just keep feeding him the ball because you know, at some point — even though he makes four or five guys bring him down on every play — he’s going to break one of those 20- or 30-yard runs," Fitzpatrick said. "He’s had a couple in [the] last few games.

"I can’t say enough about him. He’s been impressive. Everybody knew that he was a guy that we could really lean on. We leaned on him last year and we’ll continue to do so towards the end of the season here."

The challenge for Jackson and the Bills’ running game gets substantially more difficult in the next two weeks. Buffalo’s next opponents — Pittsburgh and Minnesota — rank first and seventh against the rush.

Jackson cashes in on his carries

carries, shuffle