Ravens RB J.K. Dobbins suffers season-ending torn Achilles in Week 1 win over Texans as 4 starters exit with injuries

The Ravens finished their Week 1 game against the Houston Texans with a win. They also finished it, however, with six starters unable to take the field.

Baltimore began its hyped 2023 season with two starters out — cornerback Marlon Humphrey and tight end Mark Andrews — and added four more to the list during its 25-9 victory: safety Marcus Williams, center Tyler Linderbaum, left tackle Ronnie Stanley and running back J.K. Dobbins, who will miss the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles tendon.

It’s September and, as Odell Beckham Jr. said in the M&T Bank Stadium locker room after his Baltimore debut, in which the Ravens looked fairly pedestrian: “Nobody wins a Super Bowl in Week 1.” A team’s playoff path can be made more difficult in Week 1, though.

Of the injured players, Dobbins is the only one whose initial diagnosis will rule him out for the season. But winning games without several position groups’ top player will be a tall task.

For example, the Ravens (1-0) will next week face the Cincinnati Bengals (0-1) and their top-flight passing game — this week’s flat loss to the Cleveland Browns notwithstanding — likely without both Humphrey and Williams, who the team signed to a five-year, $70 million deal before the 2022 campaign. Williams, who missed seven games last season with a wrist injury, is “feared to have torn” his pectoral muscle, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Such injuries often take months to heal.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh said the health of Williams (who the team said suffered a left shoulder injury), Linderbaum (ankle) and Stanley (knee) will soon be evaluated with MRIs.

As for Dobbins, Harbaugh said he was “crestfallen” for the 24-year-old. A second-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2020, Dobbins has been one the NFL’s most productive backs when healthy, but he’s missed more pro games than he’s played in. He tore the ACL, LCL and meniscus in his left knee, along with his hamstring, in the Ravens’ 2021 preseason finale, forcing him to sit the entire season, and he missed half of last year after another knee surgery.

Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen’s voice softened when he was asked about Dobbins during a news conference after Sunday’s game. Other players were somber when discussing the grave injury and Queen asked for prayers for Dobbins’ and Williams’ mental well-being.

“It’s just tough,” said Queen, who was also drafted by the Ravens in 2020. “It hurts, honestly. It hurts.”

Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins is tackled by the Texans’ M.J. Stewart in the third quarter. Dobbins limped off the field and was later diagnosed with a season-ending torn Achilles tendon. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun)

In the final year of his rookie contract, Dobbins had expressed displeasure that he had not yet received a contract extension. Now, he’ll enter free agency coming off of another season-ending injury.

Recently, the entire running back market has been scrutinized. Given the success that many running backs have earlier in their career — before injuries have as much time to slow them down — veterans often have trouble securing lucrative deals. A draft-and-discard process has become common: Select a running back, pay him cheaply for four years, and then pick a new one.

It’s a cruel cycle, but so is the nature of the business. NFL teams are hesitant to sign running backs to contract extensions beyond their rookie deals — and players, conversely, seek such deals — because of what happened Sunday.

In one instant, Dobbins was catching a 5-yard pass and sprinting toward the end zone. In another, he was being helped off the field, gingerly walking toward another long road to recovery.

“He’s worked really hard,” Harbaugh said. “J.K.’s a strong-minded individual, he’s got a big heart and a large spirit, and he’s going to bounce back from this, as well.”

It was an auspicious start to Dobbins’ crucial contract year. In his first game since the Ravens lost to the Bengals in the playoffs last year — after which he said he should’ve carried the ball on the final possession — Dobbins scored the first touchdown of Baltimore’s season.

He finished the game and season with 22 yards and a touchdown on eight carries, plus two catches for 15 yards. He was then replaced by backup Justice Hill, who ran for two touchdowns — matching his career total in the span of one quarter.

Asked about the injury risk of playing running back, Hill said “it doesn’t matter what position you play,” noting that each player is at risk.

“You just go out there and pray over your body and hope that you’ll come out OK. It’s war, for real. It’s just unfortunate, man,” he said of Dobbins’ injury.

Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins, right, signals to the sideline before limping off after he was tackled by Texans’ M.J. Stewart, left, near the goal line in the third quarter. Dobbins was diagnosed with a torn Achilles tendon and will miss the remainder of the season. (Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun)

The onus will fall on Hill and Gus Edwards to shoulder the rushing game — unless the Ravens add from elsewhere.

“I feel like I’ve been ready for this for five years,” said Hill, drafted by the Ravens in 2019. “I just sit back and wait for opportunities. Now, an opportunity is here, and people will see.”

The injury onslaught continued after Williams exited the game in the second quarter and Dobbins left in the third. Stanley was tripped while blocking for rookie wideout Zay Flowers in the fourth quarter and walked under his own power to the blue medical tent. On the next possession, Linderbaum was rolled into by a Texans defender, lying on the grass afterward.

The six Ravens who were either injured Sunday or did not play at all because of injury are: a first-round pick last year (Linderbaum), their top pass-catcher (Andrews), top running back (Dobbins), top offensive lineman (Stanley) and their two highest-paid defensive backs (Humphrey and Williams).

Football is violent and dangerous. As the Ravens and their fans are all too aware, one unlucky play can doom a player’s season. Injuries are “inevitable,” guard Kevin Zeitler said Sunday.

“It’s just like, ‘C’mon man. That sucks,’” he said of seeing teammates suffer injuries. “That’s really all you can say.”

Ravens defenders celebrate a fumble recovery as the Baltimore Ravens host the Houston Texans in the season opener at M&T Bank Stadium. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun)

Originally Published: Sep 10, 2023 at 3:08 pm