Sir Purr
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- Mar 16, 2019
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"I don't think it matters," McCaffrey said. "The biggest statistic is winning, and that's all I've really ever cared about."
Good thing, too, because Rhule is taking the same approach.
"I don't mean this in any disrespect — him getting 1,000/1,000 is not a focus of mine," Rhule said. "Christian's a winner, and I know he wants to win. So obviously, our best chance of winning is him playing really well, but I'm not caught up in anything like that."
McCaffrey reached those gaudy numbers last year by leading the league with 403 touches. He was also on the field for 93 percent of the Panthers' offensive snaps, which is an unusually high amount for a running back. Only right tackle Taylor Moton and center Matt Paradis played more on Carolina's offense.
Rhule is aware of those numbers and wants the offense to spread the ball around. But he's not planning on restricting McCaffrey's snaps.
"I think anybody playing that much is a lot, as many people haven't done it. But we're certainly not going to say, 'Hey, let's limit Christian,'" Rhule said. "We're going to use all those guys and try to give people different looks and take advantage of the talent that we have. If that results in him having a lot of plays and a lot of touches, great. If it's a little bit lower, so be it.
"But at the end of the the day, he's still the focal point of our offense, so it's always going to be a high number. I just think the biggest thing is using him in the right ways at the right times to maximize his production."