National Football League

Dawkins playing like a man much younger than 37

Published Sep. 16, 2011 8:58 p.m. ET

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Brian Dawkins doesn't look like a 37-year-old who's played safety in the NFL longer than just two other players.

Dawkins was one of the few bright spots in Denver's loss to Oakland in its opener, posting a team-high nine tackles and delivering ferocious hits when he wasn't disrupting Jason Campbell's passes.

For that, Dawkins credits fresh legs and rejuvenated knees.

Critics said he was over the hill last year, but Dawkins said he had lost a step or two from injury, not age. He did physical therapy for his knees in the offseason after straining the medial collateral ligament in each one last year.

He also credits new coach John Fox's keep-'em-fresh philosophy, which is in stark contrast to former coach Josh McDaniels' work-'em-hard style.

''Absolutely. We do what we need to do, get in and get out of practice what we need to get out of it. But at the same time he's always preaching about being fresh, fresh in the mind and fresh legs,'' Dawkins said. ''So, for me, obviously that's beneficial.''

As a member of the NFLPA executive committee, Dawkins pushed for new league rules that limited full contact during camp and also in the regular season.

''I think that is a huge part of it,'' Dawkins said. ''The other part of it is Coach Fox, he runs his camps like that anyway. The only thing we took out is you can't have two-a-days in pads in the same day, but as far as one practice is concerned, this is the way he does it. He allows you to get your legs back, he allows you to grind when you're supposed to grind. But when it's time to recover and get your legs right for the game, he allows that to happen.''

Consider that a subtle dig at the old regime, where McDaniels worked his team so hard during the week, even putting them through rigorous workouts on Saturdays when most teams do little more than a walkthrough and some tidying up, that many of the players were spent come kickoff, especially as the season wore on.

Fox's philosophy is to keep them fresh to finish strong.

''I think having fresh players counts, especially in December. People will remember what you do in December and we've always prided ourselves on finishing strong and you know you've got to rest them,'' he said. ''It's a marathon, it's not a sprint and you train different for a marathon.''

Dawkins also missed the first week of workouts this summer because he was redoing his contract to take a pay cut, and he couldn't practice until the new labor deal was ratified in early August.

Dawkins said the big thing, though, is that his knees are no longer killing him.

He sprained his right MCL against the Baltimore Ravens in October and his left MCL against the St. Louis Rams in November. Both times, he was sideswiped near the pile.

''I learned if you're in a pile, get on the ground or stay out of the pile altogether,'' Dawkins said. ''Nothing good happens in there.''

Slowed by his bad knees, Dawkins couldn't chase down ball carriers like fans were accustomed to seeing him do and he heard the whispers - and some hollers - that he had gotten too old for a young man's game.

''I've been going through this since age 32 off and on. If I have a bad game, it's because of my age. If I have a good game, they don't say anything about it,'' Dawkins said. ''So, I've been going through this for a while. This is nothing new. Obviously, I'm 37, so this is even a little harsher sometimes as far as personal attacks.''

He doesn't entirely mind the catcalls. Criticism has always inspired him.

''You're always trying to find different things to add to your fire,'' said Dawkins, whose passionate pregame psyche-out ritual is the stuff of NFL legend.

Dawkins is just the third player in NFL history to play 16 seasons at safety, joining Hall of Famer Paul Krause and Eugene Robinson.

Longevity isn't normally associated with the position where the hardest hits are both received and delivered.

''If you look at the majority of the huge collisions, they come in that second level back there,'' Dawkins said. ''Safeties are 15-20 yards deep sometimes, we're coming down running full speed at somebody that's running full speed at us a lot of times, so those collisions are very, very hard. And so to play the game the way that I play it for this long is an absolute blessing.''

Not that he knows how many candles are on his cake.

''I'm dead serious with you, in my mind I don't know how old I am, I just go play,'' Dawkins said. ''I don't think about age.''

After all, his legs are fresh and his knees are healthy.

Notes: WR Brandon Lloyd (groin) has the best chance of playing among four key players officially listed as questionable for Sunday's game vs. the Bengals. Lloyd returned to practice Friday after missing two days and afterward said he was ''encouraged'' by the way he felt. ''I'm doing everything I can possibly do to treat and be back at 100 percent at the way I play,'' Lloyd said. ... CB Champ Bailey (hamstring), DE Elvis Dumervil (shoulder) and RB Knowshon Moreno (hamstring) all sat out for a third straight day. ... Bailey didn't sound optimistic that he'd be able to play Sunday. ... Moreno's likely absence not only could mean that practice squad RB Jeremiah Johnson is an emergency activation, it could result in a big workload for anticipated starter Willis McGahee, who hasn't had a 20-plus carry game since Nov. 9, 2008, while with Baltimore. ... NT Ryan McBean missed Friday's practice due to a death in the family but is expected to be available Sunday.

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Connect with AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton at http://twitter.com/arniestapleton

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