J.K. Dobbins has "his own perspective on things," teammate reveals

Once and for all, the Ravens held a practice in which all players outside of the PUP and NFI lists were able to get some reps on Monday, July 31. That was an encouraging sign for the prospects of the team going forward, but that didn't solve the ongoing J.K. Dobbins saga.

Dobbins, of course, found his name listed under those in Baltimore's "Physically Unable to Perform" list of players, which also includes Rashod Bateman and Patrick Ricard.

The veteran but oft-injured running back of the Ravens, though, is far from being in a similar situation to that of Bateman, who is still recovering from a nagging injury and Linsfranc surgery after hitting the shelves last season.

Talking to the media following Monday's practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md., inside linebacker Patrick Queen was quoted by Brian Wacker of The Baltimore Sun saying "Everybody's situation is different."

The Ravens linebacker, who was drafted in 2020 and arrived in Baltimore along with Dobbins, made it clear that "J.K. has been hurt before," and thus Queens thinks that Dobbins "has seen how scary that side can be, so I think he has his own perspective on things."

Queen told reporters that "you’ve got to respect our decisions," and that while "everybody on the outside has views of how we should feel, how we should do things," at the end of the day "[Dobbins] has been in this situation before so I could see where he’s coming from."

Dobbins is entering the final year of his rookie contract with Baltimore and is seemingly looking for a hefty extension that pays him according to what he thinks he deserves in the middle of an overly depressed market for running backs.

There have been whispers out there speaking about Dobbins "holding in" by attending camp and being around the team but not taking any reps nor practicing at all, trying to force Baltimore's hand into offering him the extension he wants.

Dobbins has appeared in just 23 of the possible 50 regular-season games the Ravens have played since they used a second-round pick to draft him in the spring of 2020. While he's been great, Dobbins needs to prove he's capable of staying healthy for a full season, something he's barely been able to accomplish to date.

The best thing Dobbins could do, assuming there is no real injury impacting his PUP listing, is get back to the training field as soon as he can, prove he's capable of racking up yards and numbers, and give the Ravens (or whoever else interested) enough reasons to give him a new contract come next year's free agency.

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