RAVENS ROOKIE RB KEATON MITCHELL LIKELY OUT FOR THE SEASON WITH KNEE INJURY
Baltimore Ravens rookie running back Keaton Mitchell suffered a serious knee injury on Sunday night during the Ravens’ 23-7 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and will miss the remainder of the season, head coach John Harbaugh confirmed after the game.
“Keaton [Mitchell] is going to be a serious injury, a knee injury,” said Harbaugh. “It looks like he won’t be back for the rest of this season… It’s heartbreaking. He’s a guy that, I was just in there, we were just in there and we were talking, and we prayed.”
“And he’s just got a great attitude and demeanor about him. You know, it’s a guy that you want to see do well. He deserves to do well. I just feel for his parents right now, they’re watching and I’m sure they’re feeling it too.”
Mitchell, who has been a breakout star since the Ravens’ 37-3 beat down of the Seattle Seahawks in early November, went down in the fourth quarter after an impressive 14-yard run on 1st down and had to be carted into the locker room. The Ravens quickly ruled him out shortly after that.
The former East Carolina Pirate was helped off the field with two Ravens trainers and quite visibly, was unable to get his weight on his left leg, which had bent awkwardly after he was tripped up by Jaguars S Andrew Wingard. Mitchell gave his teammates a thumbs up while being carted to the locker room and an X-ray or possible MRI is expected to give a clear indication of the injury’s severity in the next few days.
The unfortunate season-ender means the Ravens have now lost a total of five players to potential season-ending injuries including rookie G Andrew Vorhees, RB JK Dobbins, OLB David Ojabo, and TE Mark Andrews (the Ravens still hold hope of Andrews making a return in the postseason, however). In what was a solid win against a good team away from home, Baltimore lost yet another offensive playmaker on a night they dominated running the ball.
Mitchell started on Sunday and totaled 73 yards on nine rushing attempts, averaging 8.1 yards a carry before the injury. The Ravens would end up gaining 204 rushing yards in the second half and 251 total yards on the ground for the whole game, which included an impressive 97 rushing yards from Lamar Jackson.
As Mitchell’s replacement, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh confirmed they will call up 30-year-old running back Melvin Gordon III, who has been with the team’s practice squad all year. “Yes, we’ll bring Melvin [Gordon] up,” said Harbaugh. “He’s been working super hard, he’s been in great shape and he’ll be ready to go.”
Gordon has been used in rotation depending on injuries in the running back room this year and is just one yard shy of 100 total scrimmage yards this season. The ninth-year veteran has registered 53 rushing yards from 13 rushing attempts and has 46 yards through the air from 3 receptions.
An experienced veteran and a Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs last year, Gordon will split carries with the team’s scoring leader Gus Edwards, and fifth-year running back Justice Hill as the Ravens prepare for a tough run in the postseason. Baltimore became the first team in the AFC to clinch a playoff spot on Sunday as they improved to 11-3 for the season.
The Ravens also saw S Marcus Williams exit the game on Sunday night with what was deemed a groin injury. Harbaugh told the media after the game Williams is expected to be day-to-day. The sixth-year defensive back went down in the first half after a tackle that helped force a shutout before the half and did not return.
Baltimore will also wait for an update on the status of starting LT Ronnie Stanley who also exited the game with a concussion. Stanley has been battling an incessant knee injury all season and is now in concussion protocol ahead of the Ravens’ Monday night matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Keith Allison. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.