The Ravens held Day 21 of training camp on Wednesday at The Castle in what amounted to be more of a glorified walkthrough than a real practice. Baltimore didn't do much on the training field, but the Ravens decided to throw running back J.K. Dobbins into the press fire by face media members after practice.
Dobbins, who missed mandatory minicamp earlier this summer and then was on a hold-in lasting more than two weeks through the start of training camp, finally put an end to his stance and returned to practice with the rest of his teammates last week.
The running back, who is rumoredly seeking a new hefty deal, is entering the final season of his rookie contract with Baltimore and is slated to make a sizable $1.3 million this year.
Speaking to the media for the first time since returning from his hold-in (although he was around the field in all prior practices, sitting on the stands, talking to members of the Ravens staff, etc.) Dobbins shared a few comments worth noting but hard to believe.
Here are some of the main quotes and takeaways.
1. J.K. Dobbins sidestepped explaining his absence from training camp
When Dobbins missed mandatory minicamp nobody was sure what was going on. Nobody from the Ravens organization, including Dobbins, explained anything.
When Dobbins reported for training camp, but only to sit in the stands without practicing, nobody was sure what was going on. The team listed Dobbins in the PUP list, of course, but nobody really believed Dobbins was injured. Again, nobody had an explanation nor commented on it.
Nearly two weeks ago, after one of the first training camp practices, Harbaugh finally told reporters that Dobbins’ absence had “some complexity to it.” And of course, we posed three very serious questions about Dobbins and his "injury" back then.
On Wednesday, Dobbins finally spoke and said that it was "super tough" to sit out the first two weeks of training camp while reasoning that he did so because he "was just being cautious." Allow me not to believe that, please.
Dobbins tried to explain the unexplainable (h/t Ryan Mink of BaltimoreRavens.com) by saying "My teammates need me, so I want to be there for my teammates," although he clearly was not there for the first 14 practices and it never felt like he intended to come back from his hold-in until he finally came to his senses.
To his senses, of course, because there is absolutely nothing forcing Baltimore to extend Dobbins now as he still has one year on his deal, nor at the end of the season if he doesn't prove he's worth an extension.
2. J.K. Dobbins blatantly cajoled and tried to flatter GM Eric DeCosta
Playing next season under the pressure of a "contract year," Dobbins has long been seen as a money-chaser by Ravens and NFL fans as a whole. His hold-in made no sense in the current context of the running back market.
This offseason, not even elite rushers such as Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs have been able to convince their teams to pay them what they wanted (or still want, in the case of Jacobs) while another talented running back in Jonathan Tyler is on the verge of getting traded away by the Indianapolis Colts just so they can save the money and invest it elsewhere in the roster.
Dobbins, who is determined to force the Ravens into signing him to a hefty extension even before his current contract runs out next offseason, keeps trying to give all of the proverbial flowers to Baltimore's GM Eric DeCosta trying to convince him of that.
“I have much respect for Mr. Eric, Coach Harbaugh, Mr. Steve.”@Jkdobbins22: pic.twitter.com/LA8RPTv5Rm
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 23, 2023
"Mr. Eric is the best GM in the game," Dobbins said Wednesday. He added that DeCosta "will get it worked out," referring to the extension, and that the two of them have had "good conversations."
You don't really need to read between the lines to see how Dobbins is trying to turn EDC into the villain of the story if the GM comes out saying that those are false statements, or that he doesn't want to extend Dobbins at this point in time.
It feels like Dobbins is trying to play with the Ravens' brass, but in reality, he's just cornering himself into a can't-win position.
3. J.K. Dobbins has not proved to be "one of the top backs in the league" for long enough
One thing is clear and that's Dobbins not losing even the tiniest drop of confidence in his talent. "I'm pretty confident," he started, "I'm pretty damn confident."
Dobbins kept going, saying that "coming off of the end of the year last year, a lot of people could see that I wasn't all the way 100% healthy, but I still had some pretty good games there." According to the running back, "Those games could have been even better if I was 100%."
The only thing missing for him in order to do that is to "get the volume as some of the other guys." Dobbins thinks if that's the case, "it will be a really good year."
Dobbins, mind you, is coming off a season in which he appeared in eight games after missing 2021 entirely. He logged 134 rush attempts in 2020 as a rookie, then he could only get 92 more last year rushing for a combined 1,325 yards through 23 games and 226 career carries. He's also caught 25 passes for 162 receiving yards.
Last season, in the Week 14-17 span, Dobbins was good but not entirely great. Other than a fantastic outing in Week 14 and another good-not-great outing a week later, saying Dobbins excelled to finish last year is a little bit too much.
If Dobbins had not appeared in the postseason loss to the Bengals, it's fair to assume nobody would be speaking highly of his 2022 season.
And of course, Dobbins won't play in the preseason finale in Tampa next Saturday, because of course he won't.
"I do think that healthy, I can be one of the top backs in the league," Dobbins said. "That flashes sometimes, but I just got to prove it and I am going to prove it one day. One day it will happen."
Maybe, maybe not, one day that will happen. Until then, we won't know and Dobbins shouldn't be making any unreasonable demands.
4. Is Dobbins trying to put Baltimore against the wall by saying he wants to be a Raven for life?
Dobbins dropped the final and most incredible statement when he said "I love it here, so I only want one team." He added that "hopefully that happens," although he acknowledged "you never know what God has planned."
Deities, Gods, unknown futures, hope, loyalty, plans...
Is Dobbins really building a ball full of nothing just to make the Ravens organization look like his enemy once they decide to move on from him or simply wait until February to offer him a new deal? Seriously?
"I want to finish my career here," Dobbins finished.