"Those last couple of years in San Diego, look how quickly those guys were able to destroy LaDainian Tomlinson. They became a finesse team. Norv [Turner, the Chargers' head coach] wanted to throw the ball and run it just to run it when he wasn't throwing it. "Running the ball is an attitude. San Diego stopped running the ball and when they took that out of San Diego, the team changed its direction. That hurt [Tomlinson]," Lorenzo Neal told the Post.
Neal said he recommended the Jets all the way in his talks with Tomlinson because of their commitment to running the ball. "Now he's in a place where he knows they have a running game with a purpose," Neal said. "This guy will fly; I think he's going to fly. He's been backed into a corner like a caged cat and he's going to scratch and fight."
"You're getting 'The Great One' in New York," Neal told The Post yesterday about the Jets' free agent signing of LaDainian Tomlinson. "The Jets are bringing in a guy that has that 'It Factor,' but someone who's a student of the game and is a worker. And he's a better man than a football player."
Neal should know. The fullback, a 16-year NFL veteran who was one of the most bruising blockers of his era, cleared rushing lanes for Tomlinson in San Diego, where the two played together for five years and became close friends.
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Neal said Tomlinson's "biggest impact" to the Jets will be in the passing game with his receiving skills out of the backfield. That was an area of significant weakness last year, particularly after Leon Washington was lost for the season with a broken right leg.
Jets running backs combined for only 36 receptions all last season. Washington's 15 catches led all backs - and he missed the final nine games.
The question is, was this a good move by the Jets. Answer, of course it was. I know, I know, he did nothing last year and Thomas Jones did so much more, but the fact is Jones was owed too much money. Tomlinson inked a deal worth 5.1 million for the next two years. Jones was to make 5.8 million for one year.
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