Carlos Hyde hopes to revive lifeless Jaguars' offense

Jacksonville traded 5th round pick for former Browns RB

(News4Jax.com)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars' offense is in desperate need for somebody to make a play. Over the past three games, all loses, Jacksonville has been outscored 90-28. Running back Carlos Hyde hopes to be the spark this team has been searching for. 

On Friday the Jaguars traded a 2019 5th round pick to the Cleveland Browns for Hyde. After taking a physical on Saturday Hyde tried to convince the Jaguars staff to let him play on Sunday against the Texans. 

Recommended Videos



“That was one of the first questions I asked when I got here, can I play Sunday?” said Hyde on Monday. “I looked over some of the plays. Some of the running plays were similar to what I’ve been doing in Cleveland. So I felt like I could get in the game and play. I didn’t think it would be that hard. But they didn’t let me. But I was definitely pushing for it.”

The Jaguars certainly could’ve used Hyde. He watched from the sidelines as the Jaguars running backs continued to struggle. They had 14 rushes for a total of 32 yards (2.28 average per carry) against Houston.

 “Yesterday I saw how the offense couldn’t really move the ball,” said Hyde. “That was hurting the defense. Those three and outs put a lot of pressure on the defense. Plus we turned the ball over. So if we can move the ball in the right direction and convert on third downs to keep drives alive. Give our defense a break it will be helpful.”

Jacksonville wants to be a team that runs the ball north and south. Due to a hamstring injury Leonard Fournette hasn’t completed a full half of football this season. The Jaguars offense has been scrambling to find somebody who can mirror Fournette's physical style of running. Hyde feels he’s he can be the answer to what they’ve been looking for.

“Downhill smash mouth football, that’s been my game ever since I started playing this game,” said Hyde. “So I feel like I’ll fit in perfect here.”

At 6’0,” 229 pounds Hyde has the size to be a player the Jaguars can hand the ball to 15-20 times a game. So far this season he’s had the production to go along with it. Going into Sunday he was tied for fourth in the NFL with five rushing touchdowns. 

Later on Monday the Jaguars released running back Jamaal Charles. He was replaced on the 53-man roster by linebacker Nick DeLuca.