New York Jets running back Braelon Allen had a coming-out party in Week 5.
He finished with 24 carries for 116 rushing yards, and he scored a touchdown on the ground. Allen averaged 4.8 yards per clip as the lead RB on offense.
On Thursday, October 15, Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich gave him the ultimate compliment.
“I’m excited for Braelon. We’ve said it from the start, we think we have the best one-two combination in the NFL. I think Braelon is an outstanding player. Just physical, tough, smart, really smart, had the explosive runs. That was the big thing last week. We had four, the way we count it metric, we had four explosive runs in the game. I think that tied for the most in the year, for us, and a lot of it was his running,” Reich told the media.
No Dynamic Duo This Week
Reich might believe that the Jets have the best one-two RB combo in the league, but we’re unlikely to see it this week.
For the second straight day, starting RB1 Breece Hall sat out of practice due to his quad issue. Head coach Aaron Glenn labeled him as “week-to-week.” With each passing day, it seems less and less likely that he will suit up against the New England Patriots in Week 6.
That means Allen is set to be the lead actor for another contest. Last week the Jets ran the ball 32 times. Allen accounted for 75% of the workload. The only other players who toted the rock were: Geno Smith (five carries), Isaiah Davis (two carries), and Isaiah Williams (one carry).
For whatever reason, Davis has seemingly fallen out of favor with the coaching staff. Through the first five games of the 2026 regular season, Davis has received only two carries, per ESPN.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. It appears the Jets are fine with Allen being the clear-cut RB1 while Hall is on the shelf.
A Fun Plot Twist
On third and nine with 3:01 remaining in the contest from the Cleveland Browns’ 22-yard line, the Jets faced a tricky situation. The Jets were down 12-10. A field goal would give them the lead, but a touchdown would force Cleveland to drive down the field to score a touchdown to win it.
The Jets surprised many by running the ball on what seemed like an obvious passing situation. Even Allen, after the game, admitted he was caught off guard by the play-call.
“Yeah, I actually called a pass. I actually called a pass and Geno (Smith) called the run, which is great and I said that in game. I always look at it this way: every game, your playmakers need to make plays. Sometimes that’s a great catch or a great run or a great block. As a quarterback, sometimes it’s seeing something and making a check. That was an instance where I was calling it aggressive. Honestly, I was thinking three wasn’t, I didn’t want three to be enough. We were going for the touchdown. So, I made the play call, which was a pass. Geno got to the line of scrimmage, saw something that made him think to check to the run. He checked to the perfect play and most of the time in the NFL, when you win games, it’s because key playmakers make, there’s two, three, four, plays like that a game and they come in all shapes and sizes. That’s elite instincts and execution by him and the offense,” Reich explained.
Jets Coach Sends Strong Message to Braelon Allen After Career Day