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The struggles of the Ravens running game were well documented this season.

Both Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce, who recently had rotator cuff surgery, battled injuries while running behind a largely ineffective offensive line, leading to poor results for both men and a dismal showing for the Ravens offense overall. Rice doesn’t need to have surgery to repair his hip, but he said the injury was serious enough to limit him on the field and that he learned a lesson about when it is time to stop trying to push through an injury.

“I played through an injury and I probably should have thought twice about it, but I’m glad I was able to push through the season and not have any surgical procedures,” Rice said, via FOXSports.com. “One thing I know my body needed was rest, and we had a tough turnaround, and we didn’t do what we wanted to this year, but I’m positive that things are looking better for next year already. … I was good enough to go, but I was limited with the things that I could do. That’s never been me. That’s something as a pro you have to weigh the good and the bad. For me it didn’t work out in my favor this year, but I’ll be smarter.”

The Ravens have hired Gary Kubiak as their offensive coordinator and shaken up their offensive coaching staff in other ways since the end of the regular season. That’s one way they’ll attempt to generate better results next season, but it won’t do much good without better blocking and healthier backs to put things into motion. If they get them, Kubiak’s scheme should offer Rice a good chance at a bounceback season in 2014.