Losing games early and often usually forces NFL teams to abandon the running game, and that certainly has been true for the Jets this season.
After opening the year with high expectations for the ground attack behind quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Jets rank last in the league with 300 attempts and 31st — ahead of only the Raiders — in total rushing yards with 89.2 per game entering Sunday’s game against the Rams.
“I don’t know, it just didn’t work out that way,” running back Breece Hall said after practice Friday in Florham Park. “I don’t really have too much to say. Just with how the season’s gone, how the games have gone, it’s just how it worked out.
“Obviously, I want the ball as many times as I can. But if I’m not getting the ball, all I can do is just my job, so that’s it.”
Hall, who underwent season-ending ACL surgery as a rookie in 2022, came back last year and totaled 994 yards on the ground with 4.5 yards per carry while appearing in all 17 games.
He stands at 722 yards on 173 rushes (13.3 per game) with three games remaining, while missing one game two weeks ago with an injury to his surgically repaired knee.
The 23-year-old Hall returned to action and carried nine times for 30 yards with a touchdown — his fifth rushing score of the season — in last week’s win over the Jaguars.
He admitted that he “probably rushed it [from the injury] a little sooner than what I needed.”
“I’m just trying to do my best to service the team and be out there for Sunday,” Hall said. “I definitely had discussions about [shutting it down] and everything, but like I said, we got older guys on the team and if they’re able to come out here and play, why can’t I play?
“I don’t want to be selfish and not play for the team. If everybody else is playing, I feel like I should, too. Guys have made a commitment and been here even when they don’t have to, so I’m just trying to make a commitment to my teammates and coaches and show that I want to play.”
Asked if there is a fine line between sitting out and risking further injury, Hall added, “I feel like as a running back, it’s like I already had one season-ending injury and to get injured in my third year, I just don’t want a stigma around me about me being injury-prone. Obviously, I still can play and I still can be effective, so it’s fine … it’s just the standard we set around here. There’s a lot of people that don’t have to be playing or could call it quits and shut it down, but we’re doing it for each other, we’re here for each other, so we’re gonna play.”
Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said that Hall has been “rolling” this week in practice and called his quick return to the field “the benefit of a fantastic genetic code.”
Hall’s workload Sunday could depend on the availability of rookie backs Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis, who have been dealing with back issues. Both were full participants in Friday’s practice, and among the trio only Allen was listed on the injury report.
“There’s been times where the running game’s gotten going, and I think the last four or five games, we’ve actually had some progress there,” Ulbrich said. “Space has been created and guys are getting their touches.
“The problem is we haven’t been winning a whole lot of games, and when you’re in a catch-up mode, obviously you’re gonna throw the ball more often, so the numbers and the stats go down. But I do think we have made a lot of progress as far as the run game is concerned. Is it where we need it to be? No, but it’s getting there.”