The playoffs are about to start, and the Denver Broncos don’t have a running game at the moment. They do have a running back, J.K. Dobbins, who’s itching to get back in action, but that’s where things get complicated.
Dobbins suffered a foot injury after being on the wrong end of a hip-drop tackle a month or so ago, and he’s been seen back on the sidelines. His rehab is going well, and according to Nick Kosmider of The Athletic, one of the worst-kept secrets in the Broncos' facility is that Dobbins is pushing hard for a return.
Can he do it? His foot problem is a Lisfranc injury, and it’s one of the toughest, most complex recoveries there is for a player like Dobbins who relies mostly on speed and quick cuts.
“It obviously comes down to how comfortable the athlete is moving,” said Nicholas Strasser, the orthopedic surgeon Kosmider used as a source for the piece. “How they are in terms of being able to get back to their athletic performance, that they can be competitive and also not injure something else. That’s always the concern. I’d probably be less concerned about injury to the foot as opposed to being deconditioned and potentially having some other injury happen.”
“It speaks to the toughness,” Strasser said. “Anybody who has dealt with a number of injuries has experience in how to play through a lot of injuries as well. It builds a lot of resilience when it comes to getting back.”
As for the running game as it exists now, it’s been a come and go affair. There are moments when the Broncos get the ground game going, especially when running back Jaleel McLaughlin gets the ball, along with other times when it disappears almost entirely.
“There have been some key moments where it’s been good,” Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said when asked to assess the team’s running game and its readiness for the playoffs. “Always striving to be more consistent, more explosive. RJ [Harvey] is coming along in that way. I think Jaleel (McLaughlin) has been running the ball well. He’s had some big runs for us. Always something we’re looking to improve on, but we’re confident right now.”
The big concern is that the Broncos haven’t been able to run the ball against the base defense of their opponents. They’ve gained only 2.8 yards per carry on 65 carries against teams that are using four defensive backs, and that’s a formula for getting into the kind of long-yardage situations that would doom the Broncos in the playoffs. It’s a problem Dobbins would solve if he’s healthy, but can he get healthy in time?