The return of Fred Jackson to practice on Wednesday raised the question of which running back the Bills would start against the Colts this Sunday.
Coach Chan Gailey answered it and the answer is one that will bring a smile to the face of anyone who’s been hoping to see C.J. Spiller remain Buffalo’s feature back. Spiller’s going to start and, according to Gailey, that’s going to go beyond being on the field for the first offensive play of the game.
“C.J. will start, but we’re still going to play Fred,” said Gailey, via the team’s website. “It takes two. It does. So Fred will get quite a few snaps, but C.J. will start and get the majority of the snaps.”
Both backs downplayed the importance of the quantity of snaps, but things have been tilting in this direction all season. Spiller’s made big plays on the ground and in the passing game often enough that people have been calling for a recalibration of playing time since the first few weeks of the season. When Spiller handled an inflated workload against Miami without any real drop in productivity last Thursday, the team pretty much ran out of reasons to turn back to Jackson as the first man in the rotation.
They’re better off with both of them healthy, though, and Gailey would be wise to ride both backs as the team tries for their fifth win of the season in Indianapolis.