According to Rand Getlin of NFL Media, Breshad Perriman did NOT tear his ACL. He is expected back by the start of the 2016 season. The Russell Street Report staff gives their knee-jerk reactions (no pun intended).
Good news for #Ravens WR Breshad Perriman: I'm told he does not have a torn ACL and is expected to be back in time for the season.
— Rand Getlin (@RandGetlin) June 14, 2016
Tyler Lombardi
Great news for a great kid. Maybe the Breshad Perriman haters will lay the hell off of this hard-working young man now. He hasn’t exactly had the best start to his career, and none of it is his fault. On top of all of the injury problems he’s dealt with, he’s had to deal with the loss of his best friend on the team, Tray Walker and the poor health of his father. He still manages to radiate positivity. He’s managed to work his way through it, and he will continue to do so. I’m glad he finally caught a break.
I am a bit skeptical of the timeline, but least it appears he will be able to play this season. There’s a part of me that won’t believe it until I see it, but I can at least see the sun on the horizon.
Mike Fast
Good news for a young man that’s seemingly had nothing but bad news since he’s been drafted.
I hope Breshad can come back, play, and be a difference-maker this year. I think it’s safe to say he’s had enough adversity for awhile.
Joe Polek
Not to be a Negative Nancy, but I will believe it when I see it. He was supposed to only miss a game or two last season and we know what happened there. If he has any injury to his knee, I can’t see how he will be 100% by September. I hope for the best, but I don’t count on him on starting the first couple games of the season.
Kyle Rate
As a certain news anchor once said, “I’m in a glass cage of emotion.” It’s hard to feel entirely confident in Perriman’s health prospects for the 2016 season, but this is great news. He hasn’t played a down in the NFL and I still feel confident in saying that he absolutely makes this offense instantly more dynamic, so his availability is key. The Ravens will take it very slow with him from here, as they should. More importantly than how exciting this is for the fans, this is a kid who legitimately needs and deserves a good break. Good for him.
Ryan Jones
Fantastic news for the Ravens and even more so Breshad. It wouldn’t be surprising if he uses all this adversity as motivation and has a breakout year.
With that said the Ravens should, and probably will, play it safe. No need to rush him back and risk another setback.
Adam Bonaccorsi
This is such a slap in the face to the knuckle-headed, fair-weather fans… I mean, if Perriman is back in time for the season, it would thwart their narrative of Perriman being injury prone and a bust! And then they can’t chastise Ozzie & Co. for a wasted 1st round pick and in turn, question his ability as a GM while calling for his pink slip! Those fans need a player worthy of screaming ‘Cut him!’ but with BP likely to return, they’re left high and dry!
I suppose now they’ll just claim ‘he’s gonna get hurt once he returns!’ and wait patiently to drop their ‘told ya so!’ while they spend their offseason cursing the Orioles for not supporting Natty Boh, as if it were still some local gem…
Rest up BP!
Brian Bower
Great news for Perriman. No one deserves a break more than him. The only concern is whether the stem cell injection takes. At least the Ravens won’t hang him out to dry this season.
Mark Weingram
Like many of you, I am cautiously happy for the best-case scenario of this injury playing out for Breshad. He has been through a lot at a young age, and can use some good news.
On the other hand, I think this is, in some ways, the most problematic news for the Ravens. We know that, if healthy, Breshad will be on the roster this season. But we also know that there is a lot of depth at receiver, tight end, and running back. The final arrangement of the 53-man jigsaw puzzle will be tricky for the offensive specialists this year.
If Breshad were shelved for the season, he would be easy to stash on IR and focus on next year when there is more white space (Smith Sr.’s likely retirement, Aiken and Juszczyk’s free agency, Watson, Pitta, and Forsett’s advancing age and vulnerability to being cut, etc.). Now, a young player on whom expectations are being heaped, but who hasn’t played a professional down will miss all the time he needs to learn how to contribute to the Ravens, and still conceivably take the spot of someone else who is healthy and proves himself at training camp.
Maybe he lands on PUP or short-term IR, and buys the team some time to keep some combo of Butler, Campanaro, Waller, Moore, Reynolds, and whomever is the last man out at running back, but it will still create more pressure for the numbers game. And that is before we even know what we have in terms of his competence to play at this level.
Ken McKusick
Good news indeed.
The Ravens need 2 of the 3 potential vertical threats (Wallace, Moore, and Perriman) on the team to be available to open up the middle of the field. For purposes of wearing down a pair of outside corners, having 3 is much better than 2.
