The legal process is still unfolding stemming from Ray Rice’s February arrest. But as it does, the Baltimore Ravens running back is working to prove he can return to form after a frustrating 2013 season. Rice averaged just 3.1 yards per carry in 2013, the lowest average in the NFL among running backs who carried the ball at least 160 times. He also averaged just 5.5 yards per catch after averaging 7.8 yards per catch each of his first five seasons with the Ravens. Even more than the numbers, the three-time Pro Bowler simply wasn’t the same dynamic, elusive, consistent playmaker that he had been during his first five seasons with the Ravens. But still just 27, Rice believes he can get back to being that type of player. His trainer, Kyle Jakobe, believes that as well. “People are saying that he’s lost a step or that, ‘He doesn’t have this anymore,’ so he’s really fired up about going back out this year,” Jakobe told the Times. To Jakobe, there were two primary factors that led to Rice struggling like he did last year. First of all, Jakobe says the hip injury that Rice dealt with for most of the season was more a problem than Rice let on. Rice strained his hip flexor in Week 2. He only missed one game. But Jakobe said Rice was still noticeably bothered by the hip when he showed up to begin his offseason workouts in early January. “I don’t think a lot of people understand the magnitude of the injury that he was dealing with and how much pain he was actually in,” Jakobe said. Source: http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/b...3-93ff-001a4bcf887a.html#.UyS7cH98gKM.twitter
