During Sunday’s 16-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals offense attempted just 11 rushing plays.
Eight of those went to Joe Mixon, who gained just 16 yards, while new starting quarterback Jake Browning handled the other three.
Rookie running back Chase Brown, freshly activated from injured reserve over the weekend, didn’t get a chance.
Speaking with reporters after the game, Bengals coach Zac Taylor explained the lack of attempts and chances for Brown.
“We only have 40 plays. You’re going to look at a lot of them in the two-minute and third downs. At the end of the day, you have to look at normal-down plays from the past. We tried to do our best to keep some balance there but there wasn’t a lot of opportunities in this game,” Taylor said. “This has nothing to do with Joe Mixon. This is the entirety of the unit coming together. Don’t make this about one person. It’s not like there was missed opportunities there from what I could see. He continues to run hard and he’s given us what we needed this season.”
Considering Brown seemed in line for a bigger workload before his injury earlier this year, it was a little surprising not to see him out there. Doubly so, considering the offense desperately needs a spark from younger guys, let alone getting them some developmental reps.
Still, on a day where Ja’Marr Chase perplexingly only got six targets, the lack of chances for an explosive rookie is something to throw on the pile of necessary improvements in the coming weeks.