J.K. Dobbins Adopts New Nickname, Working to Get to Full Speed
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — J.K. Dobbins has adopted a new, apt nickname: "El Toro."
"[I like it] because being from Texas, it’s like people think Texas is like bulls running around in the streets, horses are carrying people to work and things like that," he said. "So, I guess it fits me; it fits me well. So, we’re going to ride with that one. I’m still working on my Spanish. My Spanish is getting better each and every day."
Dobbins is back on the field after shutting down for six games to undergo a procedure on his constructed left knee.
Dobbins was activated from IR on Dec. 10 and proceeded to run for more than 100 yards in the next two games against the Steelers and Browns.
However, he caught from behind after long runs in both games. Dobbins said that was the nature of the healing process.
“It’s a mix between tightness in my muscle, like my groin area, hip area and my hamstring," Dobbins said. "And, it feels weaker than the other side. Before I got hurt, I was a 4.3-4.4 [40-yard dash] guy. So, this leg is still super-fast. This leg, the hamstrings weren’t reaching that speed for over a year, over 365 days. So, it’s just tough. This leg is doing good too though; it’s coming along. I heard that I ran like 20 miles per hour I want to say on the one run I had against the Steelers, and I was like, ‘Dang.’ It’s just that extra one or two miles [per hour] that are the difference. It’s the last little bit of me; that’s what makes me, me. I’m not all the way there, but I’m getting there.”
On the season, Dobbins has run for 427 yards on 75 carries (5.7 ypc) with two touchdowns. Those impressive numbers will get even better when he's 100 percent.
"I was talking to someone, ‘If football was a game of 30 yards, 40 yards, I would be 100%.’ Legit 100%, because in quick areas, in quickness, in power and things like that, I feel 100%," he said. "I feel like the knee [injury] never happened. The time I start feeling the flexion and things like that is whenever I have to open up; long speed and things like that, [and] that’s from the knee, but it’s not. It’s my hamstring and things like that; the ranges that I couldn’t touch because I didn’t have the flexion.
"I’m now getting to touch them again, and they’re just not as strong as the other leg. The other leg was pretty dang good, so it’s just trying to get back to that, the same as the other leg.”
