ALIVE & CROWELL
Former Browns RB excited to join Gang Green backfield
When Isaiah Crowell signed a three-year deal with the Jets in March, he did it hoping he found a home where he could be a featured back.
“I want to be a big-time player here,” Crowell said. “I want to prove it to my coaches and my teammates that I’ve got what it takes to be an every-down back and help my team win games.”
Crowell came to the Jets after four years with the Browns. He was Cleveland’s leading rusher last year with 206 carries, but he still felt unsure of his role at times as he split carries with Duke Johnson.
“You just never knew,” Crowell said. “Sometimes it was [an everydown situation], sometimes it wasn’t. You just never knew week in and week out. I felt like that was discouraging and annoying.”
Also annoying was all the losing. The Browns went 0-16 last year, one season after going 1-15.
“It wasn’t a good feeling. Nobody likes to lose,” Crowell said. “I’m a sore loser. I do whatever I can to win. It wasn’t a good feeling.”
The marriage of Crowell and the Jets looks like a good one. He will still have to share time with Bilal Powell and Eli McGuire, but Crowell will get the brunt of the work. The Jets get a durable running back who has not missed a game in his fouryear career. That is something the team has lacked in their lead running back under coach Todd Bowles. Both Matt Forte and Chris Ivory battled injuries and missed time.
“We liked his toughness,” Bowles said of Crowell. “We liked the way he can slash through and cut. He is a tough runner. We think he is a pound-it back as well as having some versatile, lateral movement that can play out on the edge a little bit, and we thought he would be a great younger-leg type of Forte utility guy coming in. Maybe not the receiver that Forte is to a certain degree, but from a running-the-ball standpoint. We thought he helped in the backfield from a toughness standpoint.”
Before deciding to sign with the Jets, he checked in with former teammates Josh McCown and Buster Skrine, who both came from Cleveland before landing with the Jets. He heard good reviews and said he is enjoying his time with the team so far.
“I like the system they have,” Crowell said. “I like everything. I feel like it’s a good place to be. I just felt really good about it.”
Crowell should like the system under offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates. The team is trying to improve its run game from last year, when it finished 19th in the NFL and seemed to forget about the ground game at critical times.
The lack of a commitment to the run contributed to the firing of coordinator John Morton. Bowles replaced him with Bates and also brought in run-game coordinator Rick Dennison to improve the offensive-line play.
Some Jets players have already seen a difference in OTA practices.
“The emphasis has been about running the ball consistently,” left tackle Kelvin Beachum said. “Even in some of the third-down periods ... we had some runs. It’s great to know that there’s a real emphasis and we’re not just talking about it but implementing it throughout practice. That’s been great for us because all that’s going to do is set up the play-action and some of the deep balls for our receivers.”
It is tough to evaluate running backs in spring noncontact practices, but Bowles said he likes what he has seen from Crowell.
“Right now, he has been great,” Bowles said. “He is doing everything we have asked of him right now. He is running the ball, he is picking up his blocks and picking up the system well. It will be exciting to see him in pads.”