In the last two weeks, Rico Dowdle has taken a step forward in his lead running back role for the Cowboys, leading the league in rushing yards (243) and runs of 10 or more yards (9) since Week 13. Despite the increase in workload, Dowdle’s holding up well physically.
“I feel pretty good right now,” Dowdle said. “You’ve got your knicks and knacks from the games but other than that, I feel pretty good.”
Dowdle has carried the ball 40 times for 6.1 yards per carry over the last two weeks while also going for 100+ yards against the Giants and Bengals, the first time he’s had back-to-back 100+ yard rushing performances in his career. As he always has, Dowdle gave credit to his offensive line for assisting him in succeeding.
“Those guys up front have been playing their asses off,” Dowdle said. “Brock [Hoffman] coming in, T.J. [Bass] coming, Chuma [Edoga] coming in, the o-line has been banged up but those guys came in and made the most of their opportunities, and it’s worked well for us.”
Getting into a routine early on was a big component for Dowdle to keep his body fresh in order to handle the amount of carries that have been put on his plate.
“It started with the offseason, just getting a route and finding a routine…” Dowdle said. “Making sure I stay fresh, getting in the tubs, NormaTec, body work, soft tissue work, all that plays into it.”
Another change Dowdle made to prepare his body was tweaking his diet, which included reducing the amount of red meat he consumed and cutting pork from his diet, instead eating more chicken and turkey. It resulted in his body fat percentage decreasing and overall feeling much better.
“I felt a lot fresher, a lot healthier, and I recover faster and stuff like that,” Dowdle said. “It might not just be that, a lot of things plan to it, but that’s one thing I wanted to stick with.”
As Dowdle has continued to stay in rhythm, his coaches and teammates have complimented his aggressive running style, something he’s proud of.
“I’ve always been the downhill, looking for contact type runner since I was little,” Dowdle said. “I think when you were little, you wanted to run somebody over, and I’ve always took pride in that.”
With the more carries and rhythm Dowdle gets, his confidence grows as well. But even when the Cowboys weren’t having as much success in the earlier parts of the season running the ball, Dowdle believed in himself, and now wants to continue to grow off the recent success.
“I’ve always been confident…” Dowdle said. “Just got to continue to try and build and stack of the previous week and continue to get better each week.”
Sitting a 731 rushing yards for the season, a 1,000 yard rushing year is in the cards for Dowdle, something that certainly didn’t seem likely in the earlier portion of the season. He needs 269 more yards to cross that threshold, meaning he’ll need to average at least 68 yards per game in the Cowboys’ last four matchups. The good news? The Carolina Panthers have given up the most rushing yards per game in the NFL this season (170.1).