After four games in Jay Gruden's new offensive scheme, Bengals running back Cedric Benson appears slightly miffed with his role.
Benson's gotten the ball plenty -- his 77 carries are tied with Maurice Jones-Drew for second in the league -- but The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Wednesday that he's chaffed about sharing the spotlight on offense.
"Often times you want to express how you feel about something but sometimes people don't want to receive it the right way or how they receive it could be confusing or cause some conflict," Benson told the newspaper. "There's guys who make those calls who put us in a position to win."
That guy would be Gruden. As offensive coordinator, he's seen all this before. Everybody wants the ball, but he's not about to throw out the system to cater to Benson.
"When Bernard Scott comes in for him, (Benson) feels like we don't love him anymore," Gruden said. "When we pass a couple times on first down and we have to punt, he gets a little upset. Most great competitors are like that. He just has to channel his emotions and understand we're all trying to do the best and win the game. Whether he gets the ball 10 or 50 times -- I don't care as long as he wins the game."
We're not sold on Benson's argument here. While the league's moving away from the feature-back role, Benson -- awaiting the appeal of his three-game suspension -- has been given a robust opportunity this season. But we're sure we'll be hearing from him again before long.
