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J.K. Dobbins Dishes on Big Hits, Lamar Jackson, Titans Logo

Ravens running back had impactful rookie season.
Todd Karpovich|
J.K. Dobbins Dishes on Big Hits, Lamar Jackson, Titans Logo
J.K. Dobbins Dishes on Big Hits, Lamar Jackson, Titans Logo

Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins remembers his "Welcome to the NFL" moment.

"I think it was against there Giants," Dobbins said on the Pat McAfee Show. "I didn't see the guy fast enough. He cracked me in the ribs. I stayed up. After I stayed up and got tackled by the other guys, I literally just sat there. I was like 'I just need to sit here.' I tried to get up and go to the sidelines but I was hurting. ... It was a hit."

Dobbins had a deep bruise but stayed in the game. He finished with 77 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown. 

That game underscored Dobbins' toughness and how he'll play a key role for the Ravens moving forward.

The Ravens selected Dobbins when he unexpectedly fell to them in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft. Dobbins worked his way up the depth chart and finished the season ranked second on the team with 805 yards on 134 carries with nine touchdowns. 

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

Dobbins was especially impressed by the play of quarterback Lamar Jackson. The most memorable play of the season for Dobbins occurred when Jackson emerged from the locker room after dealing with "cramps," and led the Ravens to a 47-42 victory over the Browns in Week 14. 

Jackson insisted that he was not like former Boston Celtics small forward/shooting guard Paul Pierce, who was famously carried off the court in a wheelchair during the 2008 playoffs. It was later revealed Pierce was not injured; he simply needed an emergency bathroom break.

“I'm glad I'm teammates with Lamar man,” Dobbins told McAfee. “He's an amazing player. He's a great guy as a well. He's a great leader, great brother. I'm glad I'm on his team. It's amazing to watch some of the things he does on the field. Man this guy’s special. I'm glad he's on my team. Especially (when) we came back after his little ‘poop.’ That was the craziest thing I've ever seen."

After retreating to the locker room, Jackson re-entered the game late in the fourth quarter when his backup Trace McSorley was forced out of the game with a leg injury. Jackson threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Brown on a fourth-and-5 for a 42-35 lead with 1:51 left in the game.

Jackson's performance harkened back to the effort by New York Knicks captain Willis Reed who famously hobbled onto the court for game seven of the 1970 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers and inspired his team to a victory.

“The thing is though, on that play where we scored, I think it was 4th down, I was telling him to run," Dobbins told McAfee. "Next thing you know, he pulled up, I got hit blindsided and I saw the ball in the air. I said ‘oh no, this is playoffs or no right now.’ We caught the ball and scored it was amazing. It was like a movie when he came back out and everyone was cheering. That was the craziest thing ever, bro.”

Dobbins also had no regrets about the Ravens' defenders jumping on the Titans logo after cornerback Marcus Peters intercepted Ryan Tannehill late in the fourth quarter of the 20-13 victory in the wild-card game. The Tennessee players had gathered on the Ravens' logo prior to their Week 11 regular-season matchup and were confronted by Baltimore coach John Harbaugh.

The payback was sweet. 

"We didn't like what they did," Jackson told McAfee. "That was disrespectful ... They got what they deserved, I believe."

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Todd Karpovich
TODD KARPOVICH

Twitter: @toddkarpovich Email: todd.karpovich@gmail.com Skype: todd.karpovich Todd Karpovich has been a contributor for ESPN, Forbes, the Associated Press, Lindy's, and The Baltimore Sun, among other media outlets nationwide. He is the co-author of “If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the Baltimore Ravens Sideline, Locker Room, and Press Box,” “Skipper Supreme: Buck Showalter and the Baltimore Orioles,” and the author of “Manchester United (Europe's Best Soccer Clubs).” Karpovich, a Baltimore native, is a graduate of Calvert Hall College high school, Randolph-Macon College in Virginia, and has a Masters of Science from Towson University. 

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