Damien Harris taking advantage of his opportunity with Patriots
It took awhile, but former Madison Southern star Damien Harris is making the most of his NFL close-up.
The former Alabama running back produced his third 100-yard rushing game of the 2020 season on Sunday night, gaining a career-high 121 yards on 22 carries in the New England Patriots 23-17 win over the Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots rushed for 174 yards on the night to pick up their second straight win and improve to 4-5.
“We knew we were facing a tough, physical team that kind of wanted to bully us and push us around, but we wanted to stand up for ourselves and go out there and show how tough and physical we are,” Harris said after his career night. “That was kind of the mentality of the whole team tonight and we went out there and competed hard for 60 minutes and we were able to come out with a great win against a great team.”
Harris had rushed for 100 yards on 17 carries in the Patriots’ 26-10 loss to Kansas City back on Oct. 4, then gained 102 yards on 16 carries in the team’s 24-21 loss at Buffalo on Nov. 1. Only Tennessee’s Derrick Henry (five), Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook (four) and Tampa Bay’s Ronald Jones (four) have more 100-yard games this season.
On the season, Harris has rushed for 471 yards on 85 carries, for a 5.5 yards-per-carry average. He has scored one touchdown. A third-round draft pick in 2019, Harris played in just two games last season, gaining 12 yards on just four carries, as he sat behind former Georgia star Sony Michel, who has been out since Week 3 with a quadriceps injury.
Michel is now eligible to come off injured reserve. He rushed for 912 yards and seven touchdowns on 247 carries (3.7 per rush average) last season.
So who will get the majority of the carries out of the New England backfield?
“The former No. 1 back, Sony Michel, has been designated to return from injured reserve, but it’s hard to imagine he gets the job back (assuming he is ultimately activated to the roster),” wrote Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston after Sunday night’s game. “Harris finished with 22 carries for 121 yards. He gained 79 of those yards before initial contact, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He had entered the night averaging 3.7 yards before contact per rush, fourth most among NFL running backs.”
Harris did have to leave the game with a chest injury late in the win over the Ravens on Sunday. No official word yet, but the injury is not expected to be serious. The Patriots are at Houston this Sunday.
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 10:14 AM.
