“I was scared on the side. I saw the thing happen,” head coach Doug Marrone said. “Chandler was working out of bounds and somebody clipped him and he went down and at first I was concerned.”
The collision with tight end
Ultimately Jackson told the cart to turn around and headed to the bench. Two minutes later he was jogging up and down the sidelines. The veteran back soon reappeared in the game on the team’s very next possession.
#Bills RB Fred Jackson refused to be carted off the field. @StevieJohnson13: "I told him he's a legend"
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) October 21, 2013
“They checked him out and next thing I know he’s out there and I told him, ‘What you couldn’t stay inside? You couldn’t miss all this fun.’ I think that’s the way Fred has been playing,” Marrone said. “People talk about age and years with Fred, but he’s as strong and tough as any rookie we have.”
Now in his eighth season in Buffalo, Jackson is 32-years-old, but having grossed 380 yards on this season already, he’s near passing his rushing yardage total of last season (437 yards).
“He knows his body more than anybody else does,”
On his first carry of the game, Jackson scored Buffalo’s only offensive touchdown on a three-yard rush. His teammates -- even those on the defense -- say his presence on the field is inspiring.
“That’s why he has the ‘C’ on his shoulder. He’s one of those guys that we can always count on no matter what. There are going to be some situations where you need to realize that you just can’t go,” said
Jackson not only solidified a touchdown, but he also fought for three rushing first downs, earning 36 yards on 11 carries. He was the second best receiver on the day as well with four receptions for 46 yards.
“I knew it was going to be tough, but I wanted to get back out there,” Jackson said. “I knew it was going to take all of us to win this game and I wanted to be a part of it.”
The final scoring drive was only possible because of the coordination of offense and defense. After
Starting at Miami’s 34-yard-line, Jackson would run consecutively for one, five then 10 yards. Not only did he take away each of Miami’s time outs, his final third down conversion brought Buffalo to Miami’s 18-yard-line, and gifted the offense with a new set of downs.
“We needed it. We had the opportunity to kind of ice the game so to speak,” Jackson said. “I relish those types of moments and coach called my number and the offensive line and
Jackson’s teammates made it clear his value to his team goes beyond his in-game contributions.
“Being a younger guy to see an older guy come back from an injury, nothing can be wrong with you because you’re young,” T.J Graham said. “No matter what bump or bruise you think aches, you see an older guy and you know it hurts worse than whatever you have. So you’ve got to suck it up and play harder.”