The Ravens' season of redemption hit a familiar, concerning point Monday.
Center Tyler Linderbaum, a first-round selection in April, has suffered a Lisfranc injury, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported.
Lisfranc injuries tend to elicit serious concern due to their potential to be season-ending ailments. Jaguars running back Travis Etienne, the 25th-overall pick in the 2021 draft, missed his entire rookie season due to a Lisfranc injury, but the outlook on Linderbaum seems to be cautiously optimistic.
Linderbaum played through a Lisfranc injury during his college career at Iowa, and his current issue is not a full rupture, but a sprain. Baltimore is still holding out hope Linderbaum, who will not play in the Ravens' first preseason game, will only miss a week or two of camp.
"There's some optimism that by the time the season rolls around, the rookie center will be good to go," Rapoport reported during Inside Training Camp Live.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh later acknowledged that Linderbaum is dealing with a foot issue, but he said the injury is not a Lisfranc sprain.
"That’s not true, it’s not true, it’s not a Lisfranc sprain," Harbaugh said. "There’s a ligament, it’s not that ligament, it’s a different ligament, so he’s had the Lisfranc before, there’s no separation, there’s no Lisfranc sprain, per se. That’s my understanding, you know I’m not a doctor but I play one in press conferences as you know, but that’s what I was told."
Harbaugh added that the team does not view the injury as something serious.
"He’s got a soft-tissue type of a deal, a ligament type of a deal in his foot that is not a serious thing," Harbaugh said. "But we want it to be right and healed, so it’s going to take a little bit of time, but it’s not a Lisfranc."
Baltimore selected Linderbaum, the top center in the 2022 draft, with the 25th-overall selection in April with the belief he'd be able to step into the starting role and emerge as the Ravens' center for years to come. That's still the hope for Linderbaum; he'll just have to spend some time healing before resuming such a pursuit.
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