Maurice Jones-Drew To See Heavier Workload In Week 2

December 11, 2011; Jacksonville FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew (32) runs with the ball during the first quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Jacksonville EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Last week, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew came back from his offseason holdout to carry the ball 19 times for 77 yards. Jones-Drew started the game as the team’s third-down back before an injury to fellow running back Rashad Jennings. A week later and Jones-Drew enters the Jaguars week 2 matchup as the team’s starter.

Not only will Jones-Drew enter week two as the team’s starter but he could see a very heavy workload and he is prepared to handle it.

“I was ready for 80 carries last week,” Jones-Drew said. “We’ll see. We’ll see how increased it is. I definitely didn’t think it was going to be what it was last week, but that’s how it happened and we just got to adjust so we’ll see how it goes this week.”

Jaguars head coach Mike Mularkey confirmed that Jones-Drew will see an expanded role.

“He’ll see extensive play compared to what we had planned for last week’s game,” Mularkey said.

The Jaguars will take on the Houston Texans this weekend and they will need a huge effort from Jones-Drew if the team will have any chance of winning. We’ll have to see if Jones-Drew is ready to be back in top form.