When Justice Hill said he was surprised to get a contract extension from the Ravens a couple weeks ago, it wasn’t just because of the timing. It’s also because of his journey. He could have never imagined this three years ago.
Fans know the story of how the 2021 preseason finale at Washington’s FedEx Field altered the trajectory of J.K. Dobbins’ Ravens career. Turns out, that night shaped Hill’s journey, too.
Hill was entering his third year with the Ravens and was coming off a sophomore season in which he touched the ball just 17 times. He was competing for the No. 3 running back spot behind Dobbins and Gus Edwards with a couple of intriguing rookies, Ty’Son Williams and Nate McCrary. A high ankle sprain in the first preseason game wasn’t helping Hill’s chances.
At FedEx Field, there are two different locker rooms. As Hill described it, one for players that were going to make the team and one for players who were not. Head Coach John Harbaugh confirmed he was in the locker room for players soon on their way out.
“It was in the locker room, and Harbs came up to me and was telling me I was about to get cut,” Hill said on “The Lounge” podcast. “So I’m just like, ‘Oh, I guess I’m going to figure something out somewhere else.'”
Hours later, Dobbins suffered a devastating season-ending knee injury. So much for that. Hill wasn’t just back in the team’s plans but in position to have a prominent role. That, however, was short-lived.
A week later, as Hill tried to push back from the ankle injury to get ready to be Edwards’ backup for the season-opener, he tore his Achilles during practice. Not only was his year done; his career was in jeopardy.
The Ravens were already preparing to cut him, and if they did, a fourth-round running back entering his fourth NFL season with very little production on his resume and coming off an Achilles tear probably wasn’t going to be too enticing. Instead, Hill landed on the Ravens’ injured reserve list.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” Hill said. “I was able to be home for my daughter’s birth and be able to be [at the training facility] just the whole season, the offseason, every single day. But yeah, that was a pivot point for me.”
Hill wasn’t too happy his first couple years in Baltimore. He felt like the offensive system didn’t fit his skillset. He wasn’t getting many opportunities. Other young players at his position had passed him, and he was on the cusp of being cut. Hill is a confident guy, but it was wavering.
That year rehabbing his Achilles changed his outlook. He got married and his daughter was born, which gave him new purpose and a renewed drive.
“It’s definitely motivational – going from just a single bachelor to having a family,” Hill said. “That’s the No. 1 thing you want to do – is provide for your family and make sure they’re living a good life. That just shifted my mindset and motivated even more than what I already was to just continue to go about and be great and do things.”
There was another main driver. Hill wanted to show the Ravens that they should have never considered cutting him.
“I ain’t got nothing to lose,” Hill said. “Honestly, that’s just been my mindset ever since I came back. I’m like, ‘Shoot, nobody wanted me here so I’m going to just go ahead and prove everybody wrong.'”
Hill attacked his rehab. The very first day after his surgery, he was back in the Under Armour Performance Center with the training staff, buying into the process. Since he suffered the injury before the regular season even started, he had a long runway to get ready for the 2022 season. There was no rush this time, and he was determined to come back stronger.
Once he was cleared and the doctors told him his Achilles was not going to snap again, he woke up at 5 a.m. every morning to jump rope for 30 minutes to an hour. Hill did two to three thousand jump ropes a day.
“It would be sore as heck, man,” he said. “But I was like, I’m going to keep doing it, just keep going. I was trying to get my spring back.”
When Hill returned to the field the following May, he looked shockingly quick for a player coming off such a major injury. He followed it up with a solid campaign as the 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. Paired with new Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken, and after another season-ending injury to Dobbins, Hill had his best offensive season yet with 593 total yards and four touchdowns.
That was just an appetizer. With Dobbins and Edwards leaving for Los Angeles, Hill was, for the first time since those seven days before his Achilles injury, the clear No. 2 back entering this season. He’s delivering.
Through the first four games, Hill has been one of the offense’s best players. He’s second on the team in receiving yards (161), just six yards behind tight end Isaiah Likely. He’s averaging a career-high 5.4 yards per carry.
Hill led Baltimore in receiving in last Sunday’s big win over the Bills, including a 19-yard touchdown in which he cooked a linebacker to break wide open. Hill said he has beaten his teammates on that play for two years in practice and has been begging for it to be called in a game.
“Whenever I get in the game and this opportunity to show myself, it’s going to be wraps,” Hill said. “When he called a play in the huddle, I was like, ‘Bro, this is going to be a tuddy.’ I see the ball coming. I’m just thinking about what my celebration is going to be.”
Long a player that was overlooked, Hill is finally getting his shine. After Sunday’s game, Harbaugh said Hill has been “very integral” to the Ravens’ offense and (partly) joked that he’s glad the Ravens resigned him before he broke out.
“[There is] nothing that can break him,” Harbaugh said. “He just keeps coming in, he has a smile on his face, and he works hard. He’s a really smart person, understands the game [and] understands the entire offense. … Everything you ask him to do, he does well.”
Derrick Henry is still the “King” and the player the entire league is buzzing about. He and Lamar Jackson are the headliners in the Ravens backfield. But Hill is feeling the appreciation now, too.
“It’s definitely been an exciting time just because I feel like I put in a lot of work throughout my career here. Sometimes it goes unnoticed, or sometimes I just wouldn’t get an opportunity,” Hill said.
“So I just stay diligent and continue to work and get better every single week, every single year. And it’s just really satisfying, even though I’m still extremely motivated, to finally get some play.”
‘He Didn’t Want That Smoke’
There’s always been another motivator for Hill, constantly nipping at his heels – his little brother Dax. Younger by three years, Dax is a starting cornerback for the rival Cincinnati Bengals who has been a high achiever his whole life.
Justice was a three-star running back coming out of Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Okla. Dax was a five-star recruit from the same school. Justice played at Oklahoma State. Dax played at Michigan. Justice was a fourth-round pick. Dax went in the first round.
So you better bet that while little bro has a more impressive resume on paper thus far, big brother doesn’t give him an inch.
“Justice has always been extremely competitive,” said their father, Derrick.
When Justice was in second grade, his teacher told his parents there was a problem. Justice kept finishing his work too fast and getting out of his seat to help other kids. When Justice was in middle school, they would start practice with a couple laps around the field. Justice would always finish first.
“The difference between him and Dax is Dax was faster than anyone on the team, but he didn’t need the team to know that. He could finish middle. It didn’t matter to him,” Derrick said. “Justice, he wanted to finish first.”
The brothers competed at everything. There was so much talk about which one was faster (they were both track standouts) that they finally had a race when Dax was a senior in high school and Justice was at Oklahoma State. They even made a whole polished YouTube video from it.
It appears Justice won by a hair, but he’ll still take a rematch.
“I mean, I’m always the fastest one,” Justice said. “We’ve got to race again, because I haven’t really seen much from him lately.”
The brothers will meet again Sunday at Paycor Stadium. There have been numerous brotherly battles in the NFL, but not too many when they are in direct competition. Last year, Dax tackled Justice on back-to-back rushing plays. The first was a 2-yard gain. The second was an 8-yard gain.
Justice said he didn’t even know it was his brother who tackled him. It happened so fast, and Dax didn’t say anything to him after the play.
“I didn’t even know because he’s quiet,” Justice said. “If I was on defense and I was tackling him, he would know. I’m talking about stuff right then and there.”
There was another play when Justice was slated to go out for a screen pass and Dax came off the edge as a blitzer right at him. Justice did his job, sidestepping a potential big hit on his brother to catch a flip from Jackson and pick up seven yards.
“He didn’t want that smoke,” Justice said with a laugh. “It’s fun, but we’ll see. We’re going to have some opportunities this week.”
Justice tries calling his brother during the week to talk smack but doesn’t get an answer. When he playfully asked for the gameplan last year, Dax hung up on him. Between the two, there’s only one trash talker, and he wears purple.
The Hill family goes out to dinner the night before the game when the Ravens and Bengals play each other. It’s a time to catch up with each other in-person, but football is a subject they try to avoid.
“I do kid around sometimes. I’ll tell Dax like, ‘Hey, if you see your brother running your side, just let him go through,'” Derrick said. “He’ll say, ‘Dad, it doesn’t work that way.'”
Derrick and his wife, Tia, will be at Sunday’s game watching their boys. Tia will be wearing a half Ravens/half Bengals T-shirt. They cheer for both teams and root for no injuries.
“They never say who they want to win or anything like that. I don’t think they have any favorites. I’m like, ‘Yeah, I know we’re going to win,'” Justice said with a smile.
“We never really played against each other until we got to NFL, and now we play each other two, three times a year. So it’s starting to boil up a little bit. But after we’re done, it’s all fun and games.”
After what Hill has been through, he’s enjoying the ride. And he’ll enjoy keeping it rolling in Cincinnati.
The Ravens’ boast the NFL’s top rushing game with he, Henry, and Jackson toting the rock. Once a player nearly left on the curb, Hill is now a key part of what could be the best backfield trio in the league.
“Yeah, I mean, we knew that before the season started,” Hill said. “If the coaches utilize us all the right way, man, I don’t think anybody really can stop us.”
