NASHVILLE — The kid is all right.
Jets rookie running back Braelon Allen scored two touchdowns — one rushing, one receiving — in Sunday’s 24-17 victory over the Titans.
Allen, at 20 years, 239 days old, became the youngest player to score an offensive touchdown in the NFL since 1950, according to ESPN.
“He just needs a little bit of space,” Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “He’s so big and strong. You just can’t tackle him high. I’m really proud of him. He’s a great kid. He cares about it a lot.”
The Jets selected Allen out of Wisconsin in the fourth round of this year’s NFL Draft with games like Sunday in mind.
At 6-foot-1, 235 pounds, Allen is a bruiser.
His first touchdown came in the second quarter on a pretty pass play where Rodgers faked a screen to Breece Hall on the right side and then hit Allen on the left side.
He ran it in from 12 yards and no one was stopping him.
“He’s a load,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “He’s always finishing forward. He was big in a couple of short yardage situations, caught that screen pass on our left side and there was no doubt with that space he was going to run over whoever was standing in his way at the 1. He’s a great complement to Breece and Breece’s run style.”
Allen reached the end zone again in the fourth quarter, scoring the game-winning touchdown.
He showed his speed on this one, a 20-yard touchdown through a wide hole on the right side.
“I can’t say it gets much easier than the two touchdowns that I had — perfect blocking,” Allen said. “Obviously, being on the field with Breece at the same time, he draws a ton of attention. That kind of took eyes off me and we had perfect blocking on the screen. So really easy. And, you know, kind of the same story on the touchdown run. So I can’t thank those guys enough.”
Allen was not part of the game plan in the Week 1 loss to the 49ers, but he ended up rushing for 33 yards on seven carries Sunday and catching two passes for 23 yards.
“I was just hopeful,” Allen said of having a bigger role in Week 2. “You never know how the game is going to go. I would say I probably expected to play a little more last week, but obviously, like I said, it’s just kind of you got to play it by ear depending on the situation that we’re in.”
Allen is the first Jets rookie running back to score two touchdowns in a game since Shonn Greene in 2009.
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