Therapy, self-reflection helped Dixon get back
Running back still has long way to go after suspension; Flacco’s workload limited
From his point of view, Kenneth Dixon is no longer the man he was. When he steps onto the field with his team in Indianapolis on Monday, he wants everyone to know that.
“I want them to see, ‘Here’s this cheerful kid. He is not what everyone portrays him to be, and a good child of God,’ ” Dixon said.
Flash back to two years ago, and the 2016 fourth-round draft pick was a running back on the rise. In his rookie season, Dixon ran for 382 yards and two touchdowns, and caught 30 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown. A player like that, for a team aching to improve offensively, was a gift.
That was before he was slapped with a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing-drug policy in March 2017. A torn meniscus, suffered before training camp, ended his season. And if that wasn’t enough, Dixon earned another two-gameban in September for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
“It was just hard,” Dixon said. “You did a lot of things that you know you shouldn’t have did. You look at your team coming back in, and you’re not able to go. It’s like you know you want to mature on a lot of levels, and try to do things a lot of different ways to get back in.”
To really find his way back to the Ravens, he couldn’t just focus on football. Dixon, both on his own volition and the team’s advice, turned to therapy. A year and half later, he’s stuck with it.
“Yeah, it’s really good for me. I get to go and talk to [my counselor] and tell him stuff,” he said.
Whereas another person could look at their roadblocks piling up and lash out, the 24-year-old said he’s doing the opposite. He even meditates.
“It helped my game a lot. I’m focusing on me,” he said. “I’m looking inside, what I want to do, how I want to do it. How can I do things different ways? How can I think better? How can I be out there and breathe better? Just be in a one mindset of good mindset.”
Moreobstacles have jumpedinto Dixon’s path this year, with bothersome hamstring problems keeping him out of the Ravens’ two preseason games so far.
And then there’s running back Alex Collins, who the Ravens signed last year after losing Dixon. Right now, it looks like Collins is in line to keep the starting role — he rushed twice for 26 yards in his first appearance of the preseason, the win over the Los Angeles Rams last week. Even to emerge as the second-string back, Dixon will have to outbid Buck Allen as well as undrafted rookies GusEdwardsandMark Thompson, who have all flashed signs of promise over the summer.
“Everybody in that room is a big competitor,” Dixon said. “I mean, any moment, anyone can go down. Anyone can step up. Our room is a big competition. We all friends; we just compete.” Flacco’s workload limited: While John Harbaugh would not use the words “pitch count” while referring to Joe Flacco’s workload in the preseason, the Ravens coach acknowledged the quarterback’s length of time in the exhibition games will be capped depending on the coaching staff’s preference.
Flacco completed 5 of 7 passes for 71 yards and a 6-yard touchdown pass to fullback Patrick Ricard in the team’s opening series from the 30-yard line, but was pulled for the remainder of what turned into a 33-7 victory over the Los Angeles Rams a week ago. Flacco finished with a 143.5 passer rating despite playing only12 snaps to rookie Lamar Jackson’s 42 (62.0 rating on 7-for-18, 119 yards) and Robert Griffin III’s 21 (153.3 rating on 5-for-7, 88 yards, one touchdown).
Flacco, whohas never asked out of a game unless he is dealing with a serious injury, might have been willing to take several more reps, but Harbaugh said he had seen enough during the quarterback’s brief appearance on the field.
“I was going to get him a few more reps last week, but I didn’t feel the need to at the game,” Harbaugh said Tuesday. Extra points: The Ravens practiced Thursday without only one player who is not on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list as rookie inside linebacker Alvin Jones missed his fourth consecutive practice. Safety Bennett Jackson, who had not practiced since Aug. 4, returned to practice. … The team left after practice to travel to Indianapolis for two consecutive days of joint practices with the Colts. While several teams participating in joint practices have been involved in scuffles, Harbaugh said he did not anticipate similar tensions between the Ravens and Colts. “We expect it to be very professional,” he said. “We expect it to be all about football. We expect to go in there and take the opportunity to improve as a football team.” … The Ravens practiced indoors because their outside fields were being resodded. “The footing was getting a little bit loose, and [team president] Dick Cass and [team owner] Steve Bisciotti just stepped up and said, ‘Hey, wehave to put our guys on the best fields possible,’ and they’re being redone,” Harbaugh said. “So they’ll be ready when we get back. That’s why we were inside today.” … Wide receiver Quincy Adeboyejo (upper leg muscle), linebacker BamBradley( ACL) and cornerback Jaylen Hill (right ACL, MCL) are still on the PUP list, and Harbaugh has said the expectation was for the three players to remain on the list until at least the start of the regular season.