Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill was not happy with his team’s game plan in a 14-13 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, but offensive coordinator Hue Jackson does not want to hear it.
After Sunday’s win, Hill told reporters that the Bengals were tipping their hand that they were going to run the ball when Andy Dalton made checks at the line of scrimmage.
“They game-planned it pretty well,” the rookie said, per Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. “They brought a safety down. Whenever we caught them in a two-[safety]-high, we ran the ball pretty well. When Andy made his checks, they kind of brought the safety down.”
During a chat with reporters on Monday, Jackson emphatically closed the door to the complaint department.
“Jeremy don’t play quarterback,” Jackson said. “What Jeremy needs to do is run the ball. What Jeremy wants to do — I don’t care if it’s eight men or seven men — break tackles, OK? That’s what running backs do. They break tackles and that’s it. At the end of the day, his job is to run through somebody and come out the other side and go find a way to score, period. So all his drop-down, who did this, did what — that ain’t his call.”
And if there was an extra player crowding the line of scrimmage, Jackson noted that it’s Hill’s job to block him.
“He has to block the safety,” he added. “Didn’t you just say eighth man in the box? That’s the back’s job. The great back, that’s his job. So that’s what you need to tell Jeremy for me.”
When both are playing well and are utilized properly, Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard are arguably the best running back tandem in the NFL. Bernard is a great pass-catcher out of the backfield and Hill is a bruiser with the ability to make defenders miss in the open field.
There’s no questioning Hill’s talent, but he has done an awful lot of talking this season for a rookie. I’m sure that’s why Jackson felt the need to call him out publicly.
