Baltimore Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins attempted to slam an injury report from NFL insider Ian Rapoport on Monday and Pat McAfee relished the opportunity to fuel the “feud.”
Monday morning, Rapoport went on NFL Network and reported Dobbins is “no sure thing” for Week 1 of the regular season. Considering Dobbins is coming off a brutal knee injury that kept him out of the entire 2021 NFL season, it seems reasonable to question whether he’ll be ready to dress for Baltimore’s opener in less than two months. But after seeing Rapoport’s report, Dobbins fired back on Twitter, claiming he’ll be ready for Week 1.
Better than the tweet itself was the timing of the tweet because Dobbins refuted Rapoport’s report while the NFL insider was on-air with the Pat McAfee Show, opening the door for some interesting content.
“There’s a developing story on the internet and you’re the perfect person to have on,” McAfee told Rapoport. “J.K. Dobbins just dunked on you so hard.”
McAfee and his cast of contributors proceeded to provide all the shenanigans you would expect surrounding someone who was just allegedly “dunked” on, as they hooted, hollered, and chided Rapoport for drawing the ire of Dobbins.
“Moment of silence please, for Rapoport,” McAfee continued. “Ian Rapoport was once an insider for the NFL, now he is done. What caused the passing? J.K. DOBBINS DUNKING ON YOUR FACE!”
I don’t know if the tweet from Dobbins should be categorized as dunking on Rapoport. Maybe more like attempting a well-contested jumper? But credit Rapoport for playing along, allowing McAfee to have his fun before the NFL insider served as the voice of reason and provided a rational response.
“If I’m able to say what I believe from a very good source publicly, he should be able to react without me going into a corner and crying,” Rapoport said. “It’s OK. It’s good actually. He should be able to say that.”
Is it possible that an NFL player is eager to get back on the field after missing a full season due to injury, but the team may look to protect their investment and give the knee a little more time to heal? Obviously, the answer is yes and it seems like that’s what’s going on in the case of Rapoport vs Dobbins. But that didn’t stop McAfee from adding some WWE-style flair to his interview with Rapoport.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com