J.K. Dobbins normally finds the light in situations like creases in a defense.
He’s got natural vision.
Through the first four games of the Broncos’ 2026 season, though, those openings have been harder to spot and dart to.
Denver is 2-2 against rugged competition, but its run game has been stuck in neutral. Dobbins is supposed to be the lead man in that area for Sean Payton’s team.
The seventh-year running back has just 161 yards and is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry for Denver over the first four games of the season. The Broncos averaged 143 rushing yards over their first four last year and are at 81.3 so far this fall.
“Right now, itap a dark spot,” Dobbins said Thursday. “Thatap part of being in the NFL, though. I’m going to find a way to play to the standard that I play at.”
Advanced metrics suggest Dobbins isn’t even getting the yards he’s expected to, let alone generating extra oomph. A year ago, he averaged a full yard over expected per carry, according to Next Gen Stats. This year, he’s at minus-0.6 per carry.
Then, Sunday against San Francisco, Dobbins’ playing time dwindled to 21 snaps while second-year man RJ Harvey played 29.
During a long first-half drive against San Francisco, Dobbins paced the sideline and, at one point, exchanged spirited words with running backs coach Lou Ayeni.
Dobbins didn’t have a carry on a play that counted until getting stopped for no gain in the second quarter, though he finished with a team-high 11 carries.
Was he frustrated early in the game?
“I just love the game. I’m a passionate guy. Whatever you saw, it was just me wanting to win the game. I just want to win no matter what, you know? It could be me getting two carries in two minutes of playing time. As long as we win the game, I’m fine. It has nothing to do with me being a passionate guy and wanting to win the game.”
Dobbins also maintains that he is healthy.
The veteran back has not played in more than 13 games in a season since his rookie year and has dealt with several major injuries over that span. The latest was a Lisfranc fracture in his foot that required surgery last November and cost him the final seven games of Denver’s regular season plus the team’s two playoff games. Dobbins was set to play in the Super Bowl had Denver beaten the Patriots. He signed a two-year, $16 million deal with $8 million guaranteed to return to the Broncos this spring.
He was healthy — albeit on a closely monitored workload — through training camp and the preseason, but he took a hard shot on his hip that caused spasms in his leg against Jacksonville in Week 2.
Since then, related or not, he has not had much pop in his runs. Dobbins had a pair of 10-yard-plus runs in more than four quarters of work against the Chiefs and Jaguars but has not logged one since the early minutes of Denver’s Week 2 win over Jacksonville.
That is a stark contrast to last year, when he had 21 10-plus runs in fewer than 10 full games. Per Next Gen Stats, Dobbins also topped 15 miles per hour on 23 occasions last year but has done so just four times so far this year.
“Yeah, I’m healthy,” he said. “I’m out there playing. Any time — whether itap fully healthy, not healthy, 75%, 60, 80, 90, 100, if I’m out there, I’ve got to play good, you know what I mean? No matter whatap going on, if I’m going out there, that means I think I can make plays. … It don’t matter.
“I’ve got to make my plays and I’ve got to be me.”
The Broncos need Dobbins to do just that. They’re playing a pair of games in the next six days — first against the Chargers and then Thursday night against Seattle — before rookie Jonah Coleman (ankle) is eligible to return from injured reserve.
Harvey has been the more productive player so far this season, but much of that has come through the passing game. If Denver is going to get rolling on the ground Sunday, Dobbins will have to be a big part of the equation.
“I’ve just got to play better,” Dobbins said. “I have to play better. I’ve got to make my plays that I make. I ain’t makin’ em. I just have to make my plays, which I will.
“I’m always going to find a way.”
