John Idzik doesn’t get — or deserve — much credit for his two-year stint as the Jets’ general manager, but one of his first moves continued to pay big dividends Sunday afternoon.
Running back Chris Ivory was a workhorse yet again for Gang Green, this time with 101 yards on 22 carries in a 30-8 rout of the hapless Titans at MetLife Stadium.
Ivory’s third 100-yard rushing day of the year gave him 914 yards on the season, already the most for the former undrafted free agent in his six-year NFL career.
Ivory also continued to validate what Idzik saw in him when he acquired Ivory from the Saints in a 2013 draft-night trade. Ivory was mired at the bottom of New Orleans’ running-back depth chart, in part because of a talent logjam, but mostly because he couldn’t seem to stay healthy.
Ivory hasn’t exactly been injury-free as a Jet, missing one game his first season and another this year, but he has been durable and dependable enough to head up their backfield-by-committee.
Ivory’s previous single-season best was 833 rushing yards two years ago in his Jets debut, but he already has sailed past that with three regular-season games to play.
“It means something,” Ivory said when asked about setting a new career high for a season. “I’m just trying to be better each year. As of now, my numbers are better than they were last year. But all in all, it’s just about being productive each year and contributing to wins.”
Ivory, who carried just 10 times in the Jets’ overtime victory against the Giants the week before, was one of their centerpieces right from the outset Sunday.
Ivory carried four times for 17 yards on the opening drive, a 14-play, 80-yard TD march that set the tone for the Jets’ third consecutive victory.
Ivory’s high point came later in the first half, when he went 32 yards around right end on the first play of what would turn out to be a seven-play, 72-yard scoring drive midway through the second quarter that gave the Jets a commanding, 20-0 lead.
“We came out and started fast, and that’s what we wanted to do,” Ivory said. “Coach [Todd Bowles] had been preaching that all week, and we were able to get it done.”
Ivory didn’t let up in the second half, either, even though the Jets had every reason to after mounting a 27-0 halftime lead. Ivory had 50 yards on 13 carries after halftime as Bowles decided to grind out the remaining clock.
“It’s clicking pretty good, but all that comes with preparation and putting the time in during the week in practice,” Ivory said.