Michael Turner is fine with a reduction in carries

Falcons running back Michael Turner was on his way to another mega-season.

But things went down a different path after Carolina's Chris Gamble basically planted his shoulder pads on Turner's ankle, resulting in a severe high ankle sprain he could not come back from.

In basically half of a season (he played in eight full games and was knocked out of three early), Turner rushed 178 times for 871 yards (4.9 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns. Double the numbers (356 for 1,742 and 20 touchdowns), and he would have essentially matched his breakout 2009 totals with 20 fewer carries.

Last season, the Falcons didn't want pay homage to the "Curse of 370″ theory after Turner led the NFL in carries with 376 in 2008. Count the 18 carries in the wild-card game against Arizona, and he had 394 carries in 2008.

The 370 theory is credited to "Football Outsiders" founder Aaron Schatz.

The trend is that running backs who rush for more than 370 carries in a season either will have a significant decline or will get hurt the following season. Only one running back, Eric Dickerson, has been able to beat the curse.

Turner wasn't showing any signs of a dropoff before he was injured.

But the Falcons want to make sure that Turner doesn't get overworked in 2010, according to coach Mike Smith.

The offense will not lean so heavily on Turner.

"That doesn't bother me," Turner said. "I just want to be ready when my number is called. Like I said last year, nobody can predict how many times I'll be able to touch it this year. We just have to take it game by game."

Turner was medically cleared to return last season, but an executive decision was made to let the ankle heal. The fact the Falcons were eliminated from the playoffs with three games to play might have influenced the decision.

Turner sees some benefit from a decreased workload.

"I understand that the coaches want to take care of me, and that's for the team not just for me so that I can be around a little longer," Turner said.

Turner, who is in the final stages of rehab for the ankle injury, is taking part in the offseason training program with started last Monday.

"[During] this first week I'm just doing limited stuff," Turner said. "I plan on participating fully pretty soon."

Turner acknowledges that it was tough dealing with his first major lower extremity injury in the NFL.

Just staying focused and not getting down," Turner said is how he dealt with the disappointment of not playing. "I still tried to encourage my teammates. I was just trying to do whatever I could off the field to help the team, and I wanted to stay mentally prepared."

Even with the decreased load, Turner believes the offense can soar.

"This year we should be pretty solid," Turner said. "We have another year with Matt Ryan, he's going into this third year. I think this year we can do something special."

About the Author