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Lynch takes one for team

Published:December 11, 2008, 6:59 AM

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Updated: August 20, 2010, 6:55 PM

Marshawn Lynch isn’t griping about getting only 13 carries in the loss to Miami on Sunday.

The Buffalo Bills’ second-year running back isn’t griping about the lack of big holes in front of him after he gets handoffs.

Lynch emphasized a team-first approach with the Bills’ offense mired in a miserable slump.

“I know you all have been looking and wondering what’s up with the run game,” Lynch told a group of reporters Wednesday. “I’m here to tell you all today I’m gonna put it on me. I’m the feature back here and I don’t feel, as the feature back, I’ve played like it.

“I don’t want to take nothing away from my offensive line, because [of how] hard we come in and we work and the extra meetings that we go through, the extra time we’ve been putting in to get it going,” Lynch said. “So I’m going to put that on me. There’s been some key things that I’ve seen on film where I feel I could have made a better play.”

There has not been much criticism of Lynch for his play this season.

He ranks 13th in the NFL in rushing yards with 875. He’s tied for sixth among running backs with 44 catches. He’s 11th among running backs in yards from scrimmage with 1,162.

Nevertheless, he apparently opted to run some interference for his teammates and coaches as the beleaguered Bills’ offense takes an eight-quarter touchdown drought into Sunday’s AFC East game against the New York Jets.

Asked his opinion of getting only 13 carries Sunday, Lynch said: “That’s 13 more carries than zero. So therefore I had an opportunity. I’ve just got to capitalize on it. If that’s one opportunity or 20 opportunities, all I can say is I had the opportunity to try to make that play.”

Told he’s widely praised for his hard-running style, Lynch said: “I’m not hitting it hard enough then.”

Lynch is on pace for 1,076 rushing yards, shy of his rookie total of 1,115. He refused every opportunity to complain about not getting the ball enough. He’s 12th in rushing attempts.

“They call a run, I’m going to run the ball,” he said. “If they call a pass, I’m going to pass block, if they call a screen I’m going to run a screen. If they take me out of the game, I’m out of the game.

“It’s the coach’s job to put those opportunities in my hands or not to put it in my hands. If they do you’re gonna get 110 percent out of me, and if they don’t you’re still gonna get 110 percent. I’m not the one up there that’s calling the plays.”

Lynch’s teammates expressed appreciation for his accountability.

“I think he knows and we know that it’s a group effort,” said center Duke Preston. “For him to put it all on himself shows the type of guy we have in him. Just hearing that now, that makes me especially amped up to get him going.”

“If he has to run harder, then I have to block harder,” said tackle Langston Walker. “He inspires me because a lot of times I think the play is over, and he’s carrying five or six guys on his back and that’s tough to do. He gives his all. I’ve seen him throw up on the sidelines just from running so hard.”

Lynch has granted only a handful of interviews this season. Asked why he was choosing to talk now, he said: “There’s just been a lot of negative things floating around. People are going to say what they’re going to say. If there’s somebody on the team that’s had a lot said about him, it’s been me. But the way I feel is you can dump the trash on me. I’m gonna just dust it off, step on it and rise and keep going.”

Lynch knows he has a tough task this week. The Jets held him to 16 yards on nine carries Nov. 2.

“My game plan never changes for the team we play against,” Lynch said. “It’s what I have to do and what we have to do as a team. I know I’m going to have 25 [Jets safety Kerry Rhodes] coming off the edge trying to get to the QB, and I have to block him.”

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