For a player who is 30 years old, Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins has done a great job of staying relatively healthy throughout his NFL career.
That doesn’t mean he hasn’t dealt with the kind of aches and bruises that keep elite tackles out of normal games, though. Take Sunday as the latest example.
Dawkins suffered a lower-body injury early in Buffalo’s 35-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens but stayed in the game until finally being taken out in a blowout during the fourth quarter.
While the Pro Bowl tackle did miss Wednesday’s practice with this injury, his return to the field was a welcome sight for Buffalo’s offense. It also gave Dawkins a chance to explain his injury more.
“I’m going to tell you the truth, I thought about turning it off,” Dawkins said. “It was that painful. I just pushed through it and finish the game.
“I think that, in this league, what comes with being one of the guys, and how they pay you, it sucks but you’ve got to be able to push through certain things.”