How Justice Hill became an integral part of the Ravens

Hill attacked his rehab. On the first day after his surgery, he was back at the Under Armor Performance Center with the training staff to support the process. Since he suffered the injury before the start of the regular season, he still had a long time to prepare for the 2022 season. This time there was no rush and he was determined to come back stronger.

After he recovered and doctors told him his Achilles tendon wouldn't rupture again, he woke up every morning at 5 a.m. to jump rope for 30 minutes to an hour. Hill did two to three thousand jump ropes a day.

“It would hurt like hell, man,” he said. “But I thought I’d keep going, just keep going. I was trying to get back into the swing of things.”

When Hill returned to the field the following May, he appeared shockingly quick for a player who had overcome such a serious injury. He followed that up with a solid campaign as a backup to Dobbins, Edwards and, at times, Kenyan Drake, but Hill's biggest impact was on special teams.

Before last season, the Ravens signed Hill to a new two-year contract. Together with new offensive coordinator Todd Monken and after another season-ending injury to Dobbins, Hill had his best offensive season to date, totaling 593 yards and four touchdowns.

That was just an appetizer. With Dobbins and Edwards heading to Los Angeles, Hill was the clear No. 2 prospect this season for the first time since the seven days before his Achilles injury. He delivers.

Through the first four games, Hill was one of the best players on offense. He is second on the team in receiving yards (161), just six yards behind tight end Isaiah Likely. He has a career average of 5.4 yards per carry.

Hill led Baltimore in a big win over the Bills last Sunday, including a 19-yard touchdown in which he outmaneuvered a linebacker to get wide in the play. Hill said he had beaten his teammates in that game in practice for two years and had been begging for it to be decided in a game.