Buffalo Bills supporters were no doubt excited to hear the news that their team acquired running back LeSean McCoy. However, the addition of McCoy could mean the end for a fan favorite in Buffalo.
Fred Jackson could find himself as the odd man out in a suddenly crowded Bills backfield. The 34-year-old told WGR Sportsradio 550 on Tuesday that he knows he's competing for his job.
"We’ll see what happens with me getting cut or not," he said. "I’ll go out and do whatever I can to make sure that doesn’t happen. We’ve got to compete every year. This year is no different than any other year. I’ve got to go out and compete for my job."
In addition to McCoy, Bryce Brown, Boobie Dixon, and rookie Karlos Williams are also battling Jackson for carries. It doesn't seem feasible that the Bills would take all five on the 53-man roster.
All of the aforementioned backs are considerably younger than Jackson and despite having totaled 5,646 rushing yards with 30 touchdowns for the Bills, the odds are stacked against him.
Although things look bleak for Jackson, he's no stranger to this situation. The veteran has watched the Bills draft Marshawn Lynch and C.J. Spiller, only to earn his share of playing time and outlast both of them on Buffalo's roster.
"You draft a guy like Marshawn (Lynch) and you know he’s going to be the guy," Jackson said. "So you go in and compete and you want to be on the field so you’ve got to go out and do that. Then you draft a guy like C.J. (Spiller) and nothing has changed. You go out and you compete and do whatever you can to make plays when you get the opportunity to do so."
Whether or not Jackson gets cut in training camp remains to be seen, but it's clear he's not going down without a fight.
