With 22 carries and four touchdowns on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, running back Kenyan Drake has established him as the No. 1 running back on the Arizona Cardinals. Acquired via trade, he now has had a 110-yard performance and a 137-yard, four-touchdown game.
He is a free agent after the season and it looks like he has a future with the team.
He isn’t looking ahead to the offseason yet.
“Everything will happen when it happens, not a second before or after,” Drake said on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM on Monday.
“I’m not trying to look too far ahead in advance,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep everything in stride, be where my feet are and take advantage of the opportunities afforded me.”
He is staying in the present. “I’m just focused on doing my job right now.”
That said, according to The Athletic’s Scott Bordow, there was an encounter on the sideline that suggests Drake is in the Cardinals’ future.
With less than three minutes remaining in the Cardinals’ 38-24 victory over the Cleveland Browns Sunday, running back Kenyan Drake took a stroll along the sideline.
As he approached the 30-yard line he spotted owner Michael Bidwill. After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two men shook hands before Drake turned and walked in the opposite direction.
One might say it was simply a congratulation for a career day, but with all that has gone on at running back this season, it feels like more.
Kliff Kingsbury said on Monday that a big reason why the team traded for him was because he is “a phenomenal fit.”
His “explosiveness is short spaces” is what Kingsbury loves.
“To be able to give him the ball, whether it’s a swing pass or a screen, and him be able to stick his foot it the ground and get vertical as quickly as he can, that definitely is a plus,” he said.
Has Drake gotten any indication from the team that they want him on the team moving foward?
“I’m playing, right? I got 22 touches. That’s all I need to know.”
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
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