Braelon Allen was pressed into duty as the Jets’ RB1 at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sunday with Breece Hall inactive because of a quad injury he sustained in Week 3. Though the entire offense was hamstrung by the limited opportunities from only 32 plays on offense, Allen battled his way to 59 yards on 14 carries (4.2 per).
“I thought Braelon did a pretty solid job as far as running the ball, but obviously, we have to try to get ourselves back in the game at a certain point and get the ball to those guys,” said HC Aaron Glenn, referring to WR Garrett Wilson and others. He added: “I thought the run game showed itself, something that wasn’t good the past two games.”
Trailing by 10 points to start the second half, the rugged Allen carried the ball on 5 straight plays for 21 yards as the Jets moved into plus territory before the drive stalled. But Allen, in his third season with the Green & White, on Monday stood tall as he engaged in some self-criticism.
“I’m very hard on myself and I’ve got to say I feel like I let the team down,” he said. “In the first half, I had two errors on blitz pickup. I felt personally that hindered us from getting the pass game going. Obviously, I know the type of quarterback [Geno Smith] that we have and the weapons [Garrett Wilson et. al.] that we have outside. And when I don’t do my part we can’t make plays, so I put that on myself, and I think that’s a big reason the pass game started so slow.”
C Josh Myers was having none of it from a teammate he called “a great dude.”
“Really smart football player, and that was uncharacteristic of him, and I have a ton of respect for that,” Myers said. “I didn’t know that he told you guys [reporters] that, but I have a ton of respect for him for taking that [on himself]. That’s not ever been an issue with him before, and I don’t see it being one moving forward.”