Poof. Just like that, Fred Jackson's season is over.
Mark Gaughan of The Buffalo News is reporting that Jackson has been placed on Injured Reserve with a fractured fibula in his right leg. The Buffalo Bills have claimed veteran running back Tashard Choice off of waivers from the Washington Redskins to fill Jackson's roster spot.
The news is devastating for a Bills team that is already reeling offensively and in the playoff race. Jackson has been arguably the best back in football this year, with 1,376 scrimmage yards and a career-high six touchdowns in the Bills' first 10 games. His loss is devastating not just because he's literally produced 40 percent of Buffalo's offense and because he's a team captain, but because he is, without question, the team's best player.
C.J. Spiller, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, now becomes the Bills' top runner. It's his big opportunity to prove skeptics wrong after an incredibly slow start to his professional career. Choice, a fourth-year pro who spent most of this season in Dallas, played for Bills head coach Chan Gailey at Georgia Tech.