HOOVER, Ala. -- The burning sensation resonating from Kenyan Drake's left leg told him something was seriously wrong.

Moments after two Ole Miss defenders converged on Alabama's dynamic running back -- one hitting him high, as the other went low -- Drake lay on the turf inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, sun shining down, looking at his left ankle twisted in the opposite direction.

Shock and the fear of a football-less future immediately sunk in for Drake, who could have flirted with an early departure to the NFL after his junior season with his 1,381 career yards of total offense. The little pain he experienced vanished from a speedy setting of his ankle by Alabama's medical staff, but after just four plays in the game -- and his only touch being a catastrophic one -- Drake was carted off the field with a broken leg and a dislocated ankle.

“It was pretty gnarly. It was pretty bad," senior center Ryan Kelly said of the sight of Drake's leg after the injury.

An injury like that to a player so used to making defenders look silly with his elusiveness and speed can have lasting affects -- both mentally and physically. The mental part can bury a player before he even touches the field again. Uneasiness and a tentative mindset can cripple a player because of fear of another injury.

Drake said he didn't focus on that, instead turning his attention to surgery -- which he had the night of his injury -- and rehab.

After pushing around a one-legged scooter for about a month and a half, Drake's left leg went into a boot and his arms over crutches.

“I hated that they made me get off of it and start walking on crutches," Drake said with a laugh. "I was getting around really well and I felt like I regressed when I got on crutches.”

Drake started jogging for the first time inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome during his team's Sugar Bowl preparation and was running and cutting in a black, non-contact jersey by spring practice. According to coach Nick Saban, Drake even registered a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash.

“I had the determination that I wanted to be back a lot quicker than [doctors] said I should be," he said. "It was about battling against a timetable.

“Once you get back on the field, it’s almost second nature. You’re just back there running again.”

The fear of re-injurying it? Well, if Drake feels it, his teammates haven't noticed.

“I don’t see the fear in his eye," Kelly said. "I see a full-on attack like he’s always been.”

Nine and a half months after his gruesome injury, Drake says he "could play today," even though an injury like his usually takes 12 full months to heal completely.

Drake has turned heads since the start of the spring with his speed and determination, and it has his teammates giddy about the prospects of what they'll get from him this fall.

“In 7-on-7s, it looks like he’s still got it," linebacker Reggie Ragland said. "Coming off the injury, he might start off a little slow, but Kenyan is a freakish athlete.

“Kenyan changed the whole definition of our team. [The coaches] can spread him out, put him in the slot, use him at running back. He’s an offensive weapon kind of like coach [Lane] Kiffin had Reggie Bush at USC. For the most part, coach is going to put Kenyan in the right position to make plays and win ball games. Kenyan is a great player, and I’m glad he decided to come back.”