PERRIMAN HURT
Raven receiver suffers secong knee injury in 2 years, delaying comeback
The comeback of Ravens second-year wide receiver Breshad Perriman apparently has taken another significant detour.
The team’s No. 1 NFL draft pick in 2015, who missed his entire rookie season a year ago with a partially torn PCL in his right knee, suffered another knee injury, to his left leg, during the last practice at the recently concluded organized team activities.
A team source said Saturday that Perriman underwent an MRI and might have a torn meniscus. Perriman will have arthroscopic surgery Monday to determine the extent of the injury.
The injury apparently occurred after Perriman caught a pass on a back-shoulder fade during one of the drills, went down without any contact and continued to practice.
On Friday, he told the Ravens the knee was a little sore.
The MRI showed a possible torn meniscus,
which for college and professional athletes usually requires having the meniscus reattached and a lengthy rehabilitation period.
Maryland men’s basketball player Dion Wiley suffered a torn meniscus before the opening of the 2015-16 season. Wiley missed the entire season and only recently was cleared to resume workouts.
The Ravens have a three-day mandatory minicamp beginning Tuesday.
Though the Ravens have added veteran free agent Mike Wallace and fourth-round draft pick Chris Moore of Cincinnati to their receiving corps, the potential loss of Perriman would be a blow to a team that is also hoping Steve Smith Sr. returns from a torn Achilles tendon and quarterback Joe Flacco makes a successful comeback from a torn ACL and MCL.
Perriman was injured last year on the first day of training camp, though a cloud of mystery surrounding exactly what was wrong lingered until the extent of his injury was revealed.
It did not require surgery, but after warming up for a game in Week 3, Perriman reinjured the knee and in November was put on injured reserve for the season.
After a practice May 26, Perriman said he felt “much stronger” and that what he went through last season “made me a better player and a better person.”
Perriman added that he didn’t “even think about it anymore. I feel great. … It feels amazing. I feel like a kid in the candy store.”
While Perriman seemingly had recovered from the knee injury, his offseason was difficult. Ravens teammate and close friend Tray Walker died in a dirt-bike accident in Miami in March, and his father, former NFL receiver Brett Perriman, suffered a stroke.
“It’s been crazy,” Perriman said last month. “I’ve been through a lot this offseason, but it’s just making me stronger again and just learning to keep faith and pray a lot more. It’s been rough. It still is rough from time to time, but I’m steady getting through it, pushing through it and keeping faith.”
ESPN first reported news of Perriman’s latest injury.