Biegel tears Achilles tendon, ending season
Linderbaum will be ‘fine’ after early exit
Ravens outside linebacker Vince Biegel tore his Achilles tendon in practice Thursday, ending his promising training camp bid for a roster spot and thinning the team’s defensive depth.
Ravens rookie center Tyler Linderbaum, meanwhile, will be “fine,” coach John Harbaugh said, after leaving practice early with a left foot injury.
Biegel was carted off the field near the end of practice after he “just leaned the wrong way,” Harbaugh said, in a two-on-two drill. As trainers helped him off the cart, Biegel appeared unable to put any weight on his right foot.
This is the second season-ending injury in three seasons for Biegel, 29, who’d earned first-team repetitions in camp. He tore his left Achilles tendon in August 2020 while with the Dolphins.
He played in five games last season for Miami, and signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Ravens in May.
The former fourth-round pick had impressed coaches in Baltimore with his versatility, lining up as an off-ball linebacker and edge rusher, and his pass-rush motor. Biegel’s injury is the first significant setback of camp for a Ravens team looking to scale back last year’s health troubles.
“Vince was fighting to make the team, and I think he would’ve had a great chance to make it because he’s just a solid, tough, talented guy who does everything exactly right as hard as he can,” Harbaugh said. “So that’s where we’re at.”
With Biegel sidelined, the Ravens have just six healthy outside linebackers in camp: Odafe Oweh, Justin
Houston, Daelin Hayes, Steven Means and undrafted rookies Jeremiah Moon and Chuck Wiley. Tyus Bowser (Achilles tendon) has not been cleared to practice, and rookie second-round pick David Ojabo (Achilles tendon) won’t be ready for the season opener.
Inside linebacker Malik Harrison has experience on the edge, but Biegel appeared to be a more adaptable piece in defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald’s new scheme.
“I played against [Biegel] numerous times,” right tackle Morgan Moses said Thursday. “He’s a hard worker. He’s a guy that can fill all the phases. He can play special teams, he gives great effort on defense and he’s a communicator. So obviously, we hope all is well with him. We’ll continue keeping him in our prayers. That’s our brother, and we’ve got to uplift him.”
Linderbaum’s scheduled to undergo an MRI, but X-rays on his foot came back negative, and Harbaugh said that “all indications are, it’s nothing serious at all.”
Harbaugh said Linderbaum had his foot stepped on during an 11-on11 running drill about an hour into practice and “came up a little sore.” The first-round pick was slow to get up but walked back to the offensive sideline under his own power. A couple of minutes later, Linderbaum slowly walked back to the facility with an athletic trainer and did not return. The No. 25 overall pick is expected to open the season as the Ravens’ starting center.