Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was part of the Los Angeles Rams staff that watched star running back Todd Gurley struggle to get on the field during the playoffs and Super Bowl thanks to an injury.
And he doesn’t want to see the same thing happen with Joe Mixon.
Speaking with ESPN’s Katherine Terrell, Taylor noted the plan is to find ways to keep Mixon fresh for the final month of the season.
“It’s hard to take Todd Gurley off the field. Last year, look at the scores. I swear every game was a one-point game,” Taylor said, according to Bengals.com. “Every game we were trying to find a way in four-minute to get a first down to ice the game , otherwise they were going to get the ball back with a chance to win. Every game felt that way.”
Gurley, over 14 games last season, carried the ball 256 times and caught 59 passes. Over 14 games of his own, Mixon carried it 237 times and caught 43 passes.
This isn’t too far off from similar things Marvin Lewis has said in the past. The key will be whether Taylor can do a better job of balancing the usage and not erratically throwing Giovani Bernard or another back into a game, dashing Mixon’s momentum.
On paper, the idea makes plenty of sense — and Taylor has firsthand experience telling him it is necessary.
