DALLAS — Before Kenyan Drake broke his arm on a kickoff return at Mississippi State, he was hurt. Cracked rib against Ole Miss, sprained ankle, concussion after LSU and contusions among some of the pains.
“It’s just been a year of ailments, but I mean that’s how this team is, we go through adversity so I feel like I can be a testament to that on how to work through that,” Drake said.
He said having people like former linebacker C.J. Mosley to look at to play when hurt helped.
“There’s a difference between being hurt and being injured,” Drake said. “I was hurt for the majority of this season, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t go out there and give my best effort.”
So far, the running back has 347 net yards rushing and 250 yards receiving in 11 games. As a returner, he averages 22.1 yards on kickoffs.
The running back has been a dynamic offensive threat for Alabama, but has battled injuries his whole career. Last season, after a broken leg ruled him out for the SEC Championship run, his lack of playing time resulted in a case of mistaken identity for the then-junior–one he didn’t object to.
“I know last year I got hurt obviously,” Drake said. “So I didn’t play the majority of the season. But near the end of the year, Blake (Sims) was getting a lot of recognition. So I got confused a few times for being Blake. So there’s a couple of pictures on Facebook I know that he has that probably pop up on his Facebook of me that probably people would say, “Yeah, I just took a picture with Blake Sims”. I ran with it. I really did.”
