Harbaugh on Dobbins: 'His Quickness Is Kind of Back' for Ravens

Running back coming off season-ending knee injury.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — It's still uncertain whether running back J.K. Dobbins will be ready for the regular-season opener against the Jets. 

However, the third-year player has looked solid since coming back from a devastating knee injury. 

“It’s part of it, but J.K. has looked better every day," coach John Harbaugh said. "You guys, again, you saw him earlier in practice. He looks better every day; he looks good. His quickness is kind of back. So, I’m excited about where he’s at, but the other part of it is also good players are available. When good players are available – and we’ve been known to run the ball a little bit – so you get a running back out there that we feel like fits what we do, a talented guy that wants to be here, and we felt like it was a good move for us.”

J.K. Dobbins

Dobbins was back on the practice field for the third week of training camp after suffering a season-ending knee injury against Washington in the third preseason game last year. 

In 2020, Dobbins had a solid training camp and worked his way up the depth chart to be the starter. He led the Ravens' running backs with 805 yards on 134 carries with nine touchdowns.

Dobbins also recorded a rushing score in seven consecutive games, including the wild-card playoff game against Tennessee, which tied for the second-longest streak by a rookie in NFL history.

The question is whether he can equal that type of production one year removed from the knee injury.

The Ravens are probably willing to wait a week or two to find out. They want to make sure Dobbins is fully healthy for the latter part of the season.  

Baltimore has Justice Hill, Mike Davis, and newly signed Kenyan Drake at running back. Quarterback Lamar Jackson is a threat to run the ball. 

“Kenyan Drake joined us today, and he’s a back who has had a lot of exciting plays in this league," Harbaugh said. "He’s a big, strong, fast, kind of slasher-type back [with] experience in pass protection. [He] catches the ball well out of the backfield. 

"[He’s] a great guy, in talking to him. So, he’ll be taking more of the next four days to get up to speed and get ready to go.”