RJ Harvey is not buying the labels that have followed him out of his rookie season.
The Broncos running back had a productive first year, but the outside conversation has centered on a couple of things he’d rather leave behind: the idea that he’s undersized, the suggestion that he’s injury prone, and the notion that he was overwhelmed as a rookie. Harvey pushed back on all of it, according to Luca Evans of the Denver Post.
There was at least one real issue behind the noise. Harvey said he dealt with a shoulder injury and later learned exactly what it was after an MRI at the end of the season.
“I played with a torn labrum,” Harvey said during training camp back in August. “I don’t know.
I’m good now. I feel great.”
The rookie-year usage also became part of the conversation, but Harvey said that criticism missed the point. He didn’t view the role as something he couldn’t handle. He saw it as an area he hadn’t been asked to do much of before.
“I wasn’t overwhelmed,” Harvey said, speaking about his utilization as a rookie. “It was just something that I didn’t do a lot of in college.
So just watching a lot of Darren Sproles cut-ups in college, and seeing how he ran his choice routes and his wheel routes, and seeing how decisive he was out of his cuts. That’s something that I focused on during the offseason, and I feel a lot more comfortable with my route-running this year.
“I’m just going to continue to get better and develop. And, yeah, it’s going to be a great year.”
That work showed up in the preseason, when Harvey caught a touchdown from Bo Nix on a wheel route that Sean Payton said looked like it had been run by a receiver.
Still, Harvey’s next step is bigger than making plays in space. He wants to become a true three-down back, and that’s where the challenge comes in.
Last season, when J.K. Dobbins went out, Harvey had trouble between the tackles.
The Broncos also drafted Jonah Coleman to help in that area, which could mean fewer chances for Harvey.
Even so, Harvey is leaning on the growth he believes came from his first season in the league.
“Year Two in the system,” Harvey said in June, “I feel way more comfortable. And it’s only going to get better, from where I left off.”
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