The biggest weakness for the Washington Redskins this season has not been their quarterback play. For once, the team seems to have found stability in that area with Kirk Cousins and now as the passing game progresses, the run game has taken a step back. All year the Redskins have struggled to gain yards on the ground and now with rookie Matt Jones finding momentum, Alfred Morris could be on his way out.
The Redskins suffered a tough loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 13 and it was not Cousins' fault. The issue was the run game which totaled 73 yards between four players. Jones highlighted the effort with 18 carries for 49 yards while Morris had just six carries for 12 yards. Chris Thompson got one handoff on the day. That is not going to get it done. One thing is clear, Morris is no longer the lead back as Jones continues to get more and more playing time. However, head coach Jay Gruden is trying to deny the idea heading into the game against the Chicago Bears.
"Alfred is our No. 1 back and we'll go from there," Gruden said. "We don't really have a specific plan on how many carries we want each guy to get. We try to go with the flow of the game and go from there. It just so happened that Matt Jones had a couple good hits in the game and we chose to play Matt a little bit more than Alfred."
Morris is playing on an expiring contract which is why his number of carries is a headline. He is averaging just 21.2 plays per game compared to the 35.8 plays he averaged in 2014 according to ESPN. Jones might not be flashy and putting up big numbers, but it is clear the Redskins are preparing for him to be the future of the backfield. Is Morris has high contract demands in the offseason, there is likely not a chance that he comes back.
Morris will have a chance to prove himself in the final stretch of the year. The Redskins are alive in the playoff hunt and if he can be critical in helping that effort, his stock goes up. Injuries are playing a huge part as the Washington Post reported the Redskins are so banged up that Gruden had to cancel practice on Wednesday. Thompson might not be active in Week 14 which means the run game is on the shoulders of Jones and Morris. As DeSean Jackson and Jordan Reed carry the team in the passing game, Gruden is hopeful that someone can find success on the ground.
"It's game-dependent, series-dependent, play-dependent," Gruden said, via ESPN.com. "A lot of times there's certain runs that we feel like Alfred has more success at than Matt and there's certain runs we feel Matt is better at than Alfred. And some of the runs we had were of the outside variety, and maybe we want a little bit more speed in there and Matt was the choice or Chris Thompson."