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Fred Jackson isn't ready to just hand over his RB role to LeSean McCoy

    by Justin Klugh
    Published 

The Bills' brass were reportedly wrapping up a retreat with cigars when the call came to GM Doug Whaley's phone that the Eagles were interested in sending them LeSean McCoy, one of the top rushers in the NFL, in exchange for LB Kiko Alonso, who was coming off an ACL tear, and no picks.

Whaley tried to stifle the steam coming out of his ears and Rex Ryan, standing nearby, uncorked a bottle of red. Things were looking good for the Bills.

And as Shady heads to upstate New York, he does so under the impression that the starting running back job is his; something that the rest of the team and the entire media have all assumed as well. But one man isn't ready to just give McCoy a role that's been filled by another running back for the last eight years.

That man is Fred Jackson, the other running back who has filled the role for the last eight years, according to the Buffalo News:

"I know they say they want him to be the 'bell cow,'" Fred Jackson said Wednesday. "They want him to take the majority of the load. But I'm not going to make it easy for him. I'm not going to just hand it to him and say, 'Here's the job.'"

Jackson, 34, served as a third-down specialist last season and performed well. But he is in that part of an NFL player's career when his body parts gradually start to hurt and fall off, making this statement a bit bold.

However, it's likely Jackson doesn't mean he tends to stand in the way of progress; the veteran may want to let McCoy know that just because he's getting his pay check delivered by a flatbed truck doesn't mean people are going to stand aside and let him take the role without a challenge. After all, it's been almost of a decade that Jackson has been in Buffalo, and it speaks to his character that he wouldn't relinquish his spot without a fight.

Meanwhile, no-time Super Bowl champion Rex Ryan's brilliant offseason continued as he made fun of four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady's ceremonial first pitch at a Red Sox game.