Breece Hall has a message for those who passed on him in the first round
Jets running back Breece Hall against the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 9, 2022. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — “Oh, yeah, definitely took some receipts,” Breece Hall said.
But unlike his coach, Robert Saleh, who famously uttered a similar sentiment about the Jets’ doubters after the team lost its opener, the rookie running back had in mind a different group: the NFL teams that did not draft him in the first round.
“Definitely, I’m here for a reason; it was a blessing to be in this draft class,” Hall said after practice on Friday. “But I definitely want to prove every week why I should have been a first-round draft pick and why I was worthy of that.
“So that’s like a little internal motivation, for sure.”
Hall looked like the first-round pick many projected he would be out of Iowa State when he led the Jets to a 40-17 victory over the Dolphins on Sunday.
Even his 100 receiving yards, 97 rushing yards and one touchdown did not tell the entire story. Twice he got the Jets to the 1-yard line to set up touchdown runs by Michael Carter.
“The coaches brought that up today,” Hall said, chuckling. “We were just joking around about it. But you know, it’s just fun. We’re just both focused on winning the game.”
The Jets are 3-2 entering Sunday’s game at Green Bay, and their chances of keeping that up will increase if Hall and his backfield partner, Carter, continue to produce.
Hall has 56 rushes for 275 yards and Carter 47 for 158. That is a combined pace of nearly 1,500 rushing yards.
“As much of a competition as it is,” Hall said, “we still try to get each other better each and every day. We’re always critiquing each other, telling each other what we could have been better at.”
Saleh said the distribution of carries will vary week to week, and within each game.
“It never goes according to plan,” he said. “You’re trying to keep a balance between the two . . . But when you get in the game and one’s riding a hot hand, it’s just seeing it a certain way. You just roll with it.”
Saleh said of offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, “He’s got to be able to feel that. I think they do a really good job feeling how the guys are playing on game day.”
LaFleur praised Hall’s intelligence and willingness to learn, noting that he has the skills necessary for the job.
“When he’s out there, you just think you have an angle on him and then he goes,” LaFleur said. “Then he’s got just this massive body with that speed.”
Hall said his big game against the Dolphins was another step in making him comfortable as a pro, and another sign the speed of the game is beginning to slow down for him.
“I kind of feel like once I get into that zone, I’m kind of playing in slow motion,” he said, “able to control the pace of the game, the pace of the defense and everything like that.”
Message receipted.
Notes & quotes: DE Jermaine Johnson (ankle) is out for Sunday. LB Quincy Williams (ankle) will play.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
