Perry Fewell did not blink when it came time to decide which quarterback gave the Bills the best chance to win games. Prior to his debut as an NFL head coach in Jacksonville, Fewell benched struggling Trent Edwards and went with backup Ryan Fitzpatrick who has responded with 297- and 246-yard passing games.
So before his home head coaching debut against Miami on Sunday, Fewell applied the same logic -- play the guy who gives the team a better chance to win -- and he went with Fred Jackson over Marshawn Lynch.
Jackson touched the ball 20 times and gained 116 yards -- 73 on the ground, 43 on five pass receptions -- and the Bills rolled in the fourth quarter to a 31-14 triumph.
"I made that decision, really, during the course of the week, just watching us practice, watching our tempo and just gut instinct," Fewell said. "Fred has been very productive for us and it was just a gut, again, to help our football team."
Lynch has been stuck in neutral all season. After topping 1,000 yards rushing in each of his first two seasons with the Bills, the 2007 first-round draft pick sat out the first three games of the year on an NFL suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
In his place, Jackson started and rushed for 57 yards against New England, a career-high 163 against Tampa Bay, and then 71 against New Orleans. He also caught 15 passes for 134 yards and was second in the league in yards gained from scrimmage through three weeks.
And then Lynch came back, the Bills tried to work both their backs into the game plan, and it never really worked because neither was able to find a rhythm.
In the eight games he has played, Lynch has rushed for just 278 yards on 90 attempts, barely three yards per rush. In the seven games Lynch was back prior to the Miami game, Jackson had rushed for only 237 yards on 68 carries.
"Any player is going to want the ball," said Jackson, who signed a three-year, $3 million deal in the offseason to stay in Buffalo when he had a chance to leave as a restricted free agent. "We need two running backs and he needs to get started and he needs his carries. I know he's the feature back and that's who they want to try to get rolling, but yeah, anybody in my situation wants the ball. You want to help the team as much as possible."
Well, that apparently has changed. Fewell has nothing invested in Lynch because he wasn't the head coach when Lynch was chosen in the first round. Fewell needs to win games if he hopes to remove the interim tag from his title, and he has figured out that Jackson cane help him more in that endeavor.
"I was definitely given my share of touches and it was something I wanted to take advantage of and make as many plays as possible for this team," Jackson said. "I felt like the more plays I can make the better it's going to help our team to get an opportunity to go out and get a win."
One of the key differences between the two backs is Jackson has an innate ability to avoid negative plays, of which there are plenty of opportunities because the Bills' injury-ravaged and inexperienced offensive line simply isn't very good. Lynch has really struggled when things blow up because he's more of a straight-ahead runner and when he gets flushed away from the intended hole, he struggles moving laterally and usually gets swallowed for a loss.
Jackson has also proven to be a better playmaker when he catches passes out of the backfield, an area Lynch was said to excel in when the Bills plucked him from the University of California. However, he hasn't made an impact catching passes.
As for the plan moving ahead for Thursday's game in Toronto against the New York Jets, Fewell isn't saying for sure, but look for Jackson to be the primary back.
"It's greatly appreciated," Jackson said of the support he has received from those clamoring for him to be the No. 1 back. "It's one of those things that you establish yourself as somebody that can go out and be a starter on a football team. As a player, you appreciate all the love you get from the fans and the media."
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