Quinton Dunbar is rested.
The pinched nerve in his lower hamstring that impacted his leg strength and prevented him from exploding off the ground late last season has generated back over the past few months. His nerves are firing correctly now. He's feeling just fine.
"But we're still not going to rush it," Dunbar said last week after a workout at Redskins Park. "I'm just building my body back up. I feel really good. I ran today. It's getting there."
Dunbar was placed on Injured Reserve on Dec. 5 last year, missing the team's final push for the playoffs. After testing his legs against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, it was clear he wasn't able to plant and push off in the way he needed to on the field.
He stopped practicing and headed to Miami, where he could let his nerves regenerate and slowly began building back his strength in his hamstrings, glutes and quads with sled pushes and lifts, then, eventually, running.
"Once I started to build that up," he said. "I started feeling fine."
Still, Dunbar doesn't want to overexert himself in April. When the team runs sprints, he's been walking and participating in cone drills, all in moderation.
"Just because you feel good, you don't want to tear it down, so bit by bit," Dunbar said. "I don't have any restrictions running or anything like that, I feel good running but I'm just starting to feel good, but just because I'm starting to feel good doesn't mean I'm going to go out there and tear it up."
Dunbar said it's been nice to be back at the facility around his family again. He's briefly met with new safety Landon Collins, who has already made a solid impression.
"I mean he's ready, he's there," Dunbar said. "He doesn't carry himself like he's better than everyone else, he's a down to earth guy and I respect it."
He's also spoken to new defensive backs coach Ray Horton and appreciated, already, the way in which he's broken down defenses and made it easy for the room.
"The way he carries himself with all of the accolades he does have and how many years he's been in the league, he doesn't carry himself like he's better than someone," Dunbar said. "I feel like it's going to be easy going and guys are going to be ready to run through a brick wall for him."