Raiders RB Doug Martin says he has 'plenty of mileage left'

The Oakland Raiders have had to go through a change of game plan in the backfield, and Doug Martin says he has "plenty of mileage left."

The Oakland Raiders have had to go through a change of game plan in the backfield with former Pro Bowl running back Marshawn Lynch being placed on the injured reserve due to a groin injury that required surgery. Doug Martin believes he's the man for the job.

Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has already indicated that the team is set to roll with Martin as the primary option out of the backfield. With that increased responsibility ahead of him, Martin has voiced that he believes that he still has plenty left in the tank to perform at a high level, according to Michael Gehlken of The Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Raiders RB Doug Martin on difference between Doug Martin today at age 29 than 25-year-old version: “I don’t think he’s different at all. …With injuries and games that I wasn’t able to play in previous years, I’ve still got a lot of miles left on these wheels.”

— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) October 25, 2018

Prior to Lynch being placed on the injured reserve, Martin had served as the primary backup where he garnered 99 rushing yards on 27 attempts along with four catches for five receiving yards. He has been able to showcase that he can get to perform at a Pro Bowl level at this stage of his career.

He is coming off a difficult 2017 campaign where he posted a career-low 406 rushing yards while tying a career-worst 2.9 yards per attempt in 11 games played. This included only tallying more than 70 rushing yards twice while falling short of double-digit rushing yard totals three times. On top of that, Martin also had to sit out the first four games due to a violation of the NFL substance abuse policy for testing positive for Adderall. What should also be noted is that last year marked his second straight season with fewer than 425 rushing yards and the fourth time in his first six seasons that he has failed to top 500 rushing yards while playing in fewer than 11 games.

Ultimately, Martin has an opportunity in front of him to prove that he still has plenty left in the tank to perform at a high level. This could be one of his final opportunities in his career to prove that he can be depended on a workhorse running back.