By Tim Graham
PITTSFORD -- Is the dumb bone connected to the funny bone?
Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson couldn't have been more unequivocal today when addressing the issue of recovering from the broken right leg fibula that ended a possible All-Pro campaign in November.
"I don't really consider my injury last year as serious as a lot of people say," Jackson said today at St. John Fisher College. "It was just a dumb bone that I fractured. But I was walking around on it two weeks later without any problem. It's a non-weight-bearing bone. I'm fine, 100 percent ready to go.
"I'm excited about being back out here. Yeah, it took me off the field last year, but it's not a catastrophic injury that I suffered."
Jackson would have been cleared to return by December if he hadn't been placed on injured reserve. He had 934 rushing yards and six touchdowns when he got hurt. His 1,376 yards from scrimmage ranked second in the NFL at the time.
Jackson today also shared his latest thoughts on how he's mentally approaching the shared backfield workload with C.J. Spiller.
"I don't know what's going to happen," Jackson said. "All I can do is go out there and do everything I've done over my career so far -- take care of the opportunities when I get on the field, make the most of them.
"C.J.'s a talented player, and he's going to get opportunities as well. So when I get out there, all I can do is take care of when I'm out there and try to make some plays for my team."
Jackson has gotten this far in his career because of the chip on his shoulder. You can bet he wants to emphatically establish himself as Buffalo's featured back over the next few weeks.
(Photo: James P. McCoy/Buffalo News)
