Imagine what Najeh Davenport could have done on two healthy hamstrings.
Davenport, who plowed through the St. Louis Rams for 178 yards in his first NFL start Monday night, can just see it: 200 yards easily, maybe 300.
"Yeah," Davenport said, narrowing his eyes into a you'd-better-believe-it stare. "I can run. I'm a fast dude. I'm like 80 percent. I've got two bad hamstrings and I was having trouble with my ribs."
After watching Davenport's dominance in Green Bay's 45-17 win Monday night, quarterback Brett Favre isn't about to doubt Davenport's hunch.
"If he was just 80-85 percent, that's scary," Favre said. "He's a load. He was pretty darn good."
Davenport, filling in for injured starter Ahman Green, never turned it loose, not even on his game-clinching 40-yard touchdown run, because he didn't want to risk re-injuring his hamstrings.
"I just kept it in third or fourth gear," he said.
Davenport still piled up the fifth-highest rushing total in franchise history while on cruise control. For his breakout performance, Davenport gets ... to be the backup again. Sherman expects Green to return to the starting lineup at Philadelphia next week.
Nonetheless, Davenport had his day to shine. So, just how did Davenport, who was coveted by the Miami Dolphins when Ricky Williams retired, gain so many yards on so few carries with so little burst and so much trepidation?
"I'm faster than a lot of guys anticipate," said Davenport, a 250-pounder who sports tailback speed and a fullback's frame. "I wanted to turn it on. A couple of times I could have run away, but I wanted to play longer. I didn't want to pull it and have a setback."
He's had enough of those for one season.
Davenport felt his right hamstring grab in the season opener, went to the sideline, put a rubber sleeve on his leg and returned to action only to feel the muscle rip, sending a searing jolt through his body.
He missed the next month -- coinciding with Green Bay's four-game losing streak -- before returning in Week 6 at Detroit, where he ran 10 times for 62 yards and a touchdown as the Packers began a six-game winning streak.
Davenport felt his left hamstring grab on him against Minnesota two weeks ago and immediately left the game, unwilling to risk another four-week layoff.
It hurt at practice when he tried to test it, so he sat out against Houston last week, when Green bruised his ribs on his first carry.
With Green still ailing, Davenport was pressed into duty despite being less than 100 percent.
"When you lose a back like Ahman, who is a difference-maker, you need someone to step up, and Najeh did," coach Mike Sherman said. "I think he was sandbagging me a little bit on his hamstring. I didn't see a problem with his burst."
Davenport started slowly, running for no gain and 1 yard on his first two carries, both on toss-sweeps, before he bulled straight ahead for 15 yards.
"I don't particularly care for those tosses, I'm more of a downhill dude," Davenport said.
A fast dude, a downhill dude. The Packers are just glad he's their dude.