Not even an injury to Gore is enough to get Dolphins’ Drake more carries. What gives?
As Frank Gore hobbled out of the visiting locker room Sunday, his injured left foot immobilized by a walking boot, he passed Kenyan Drake, who was meeting with reporters.
In a world that makes sense, a first-quarter injury to Gore would mean more carries for Drake.
But this is not such a world, and Drake’s workload somehow decreased with Gore out.
Drake had just one carry for six yards Sunday. He also caught three passes for 28 yards.
That raises two obvious questions: Why? And was Drake OK with his usage Sunday?
“That’s not my job,” Drake responded, not exactly giving a full-throated endorsement to Adam Gase’s approach.
Instead of Gore’s carries going to Drake Sunday, Gase gave them to rookie Kalen Ballage.
And on the surface, that plan is hard to criticize. Ballage rushed for a career-high 123 yards on 12 carries. That includes a 75-yard touchdown romp on the first play of the second half.
“It was good to be out there,” said Ballage, who had just 11 career rushing yards before Sunday. “I have been waiting for an opportunity for a long time.”
But it’s curious, to say the least, that the perhaps the Dolphins’ most dynamic healthy player on offense gets just four touches in a must-win game.
“We just had different personnel packages and were trying to put ourselves in positions where we using multiple guys,” Gase said. “We knew it was going to be one of those games where we have to use all of those guys.”
But in truth, Gase didn’t use all of those guys. He used Gore (five carries for 14 yards) until he got hurt. And then he used Ballage.
And Gore’s health might be an issue going forward. While Gore’s X-rays were negative, Pro Football Talk reported, he did suffer a sprained foot and will undergo an MRI Monday.
Given Gore’s age (35) and how late it is in the season, one has to at least consider the possibility that he has played his final NFL down. Gore was non-committal in recent days about returning in 2019, but pointed to his good health as factor that could convince him to return.
At the very least, two Gore streaks are in jeopardy. On Sunday, he appeared in his 126th consecutive game, and he has started 122 straight — both the most by any NFL skill-position player.
More on Drake: While he might be unhappy about his role, he didn’t exactly make a strong case for an increased role Sunday.
“Personally, I played the worst game of the season,” Drake said. “I let the team down. Missed a couple of key blocks on third down. You’ve got to be straight-up with yourself, look yourself in the mirror and move on and get better.”
Drake did deal with a minor ankle injury Sunday, but returned to and finished the game.
“Not an excuse for anything,” he added.
This story was originally published December 16, 2018 at 6:54 PM.
