2009 Draft: Jets Third Round Pick - Shonn Greene Photos
Jets running back Shonn Greene has been nominated for a set of Week 7 awards — the FedEx Ground Player of the Week and the Pepsi Rookie of the Week — after his 19-carry, 144-yard, two-touchdown rushing performance in the 38-0 victory at Oakland.
Greene teamed up with RB Thomas Jones (26-121-1 TD), who won the FedEx Ground award the previous week, and QB Mark Sanchez, who won the Pepsi award in each of the first three weeks, against the Raiders.
"The offensive line did a great job for T.J. and me," Greene said. "They sustained blocks. Tony Richardson, the fullback, and the tight ends, Dustin [Keller] and Ben [Hartsock], blocked. They did a great job for us, making our job a lot easier opening the holes for us. I think they played a big role in part of my success."
The Iowa product proved he was ready for more than spot duty after RB Leon Washington suffered a compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula in the first quarter. Greene made the most of his opportunity. In the second quarter, on his third run of the game, he had a 26-yard burst. On the next play, he capped a 10-play, 93-yard drive with an 8-yard run for his first career pro TD to put the Green & White up, 21-0.
"It was hard seeing Leon go down the way he did," he said. "When I saw that, I wanted to do it for Leon.''
The Jets really hit their stride, totaling 316 yards on the day to become the first NFL team to rush for consecutive 300-yard games since the Bills did it in 1975.
Greene, whose final carry of the game was a 33-yard scoring run up the middle in the fourth quarter, has rushed 26 times for 174 yards and his 6.7 yards per carry leads all rookies with 20 or more carries on the season, as does his three runs of 20-plus yards.
"I'm just going in there and try to do the best I can and do what I'm able to do," he said. "I just look forward to more opportunities and doing the best I can."
Fan balloting is open for both awards now through Friday noon ET. You can vote for **Pepsi **Rookie **of the Week here** and **FedEx Ground Player of the Week here**.
