Running back Bryce Brown averaged more yards per carry in his first two NFL starts than the total amount of yards he gained on the ground Sunday against Tampa Bay.
But the end result was different. And that's all that mattered to Brown.
"I'll take a game like that and a win any day," said Brown, who had 6 rushing yards on 12 carries in the 23-21 win over Tampa Bay. "Winning is the most important thing for me. Winning is the most important thing for this organization. We're not here for stats."
Brown took the NFL by storm when he rushed for 347 yards - at a clip of 8.1 yards per carry - in the previous two games. He set the Eagles' single-game rookie record with 178 yards against the Carolina Panthers. His two-game total was the second-highest by any running back in franchise history.
However, the Eagles came out on the short end of the scoreboard in each of those two contests. On Sunday, the Eagles faced the league's top-ranked run defense in the Buccaneers. With an active front seven that stunted and moved around a lot, Brown simply had nowhere to run.
Brown lost 4 yards on his first carry of the game. Six of his 10 first half carries went for either no gain or negative yardage. He got two carries in the second half, but none on the final two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.
"There's a reason why they're number one," Brown said. "They definitely showed that. They did a great job, but I'll take the win. It felt good to get a win.
"I just think the safeties did a good job of coming up and being in the right position. Whoever's calling the plays over there did a good job of stunting."
Brown said that he could not recall ever having that type of game in his career at any level. The rookie simply knew that Sunday was not going to be a record-setting day for him from an individual standpoint.
"You're going to have a game like that. Anybody who has played football knows that you're going to have bad games and that's just one of them," Brown said.
"We went to our passing game. It worked out well. We got the win. I don't really get frustrated. That's not the type of player I am. I know some days are going to be good, some days aren't. That's a part of this game. If you play running back, you have to understand that."
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