Eugene Monroe signed a five-year deal last offseason with Baltimore with the intention of solidifying the left tackle spot for years to come.
However, it was an up-and-down season that came to a 'frustrating' finish.
Monroe missed four games early in the season due to a knee injury. An ankle injury knocked him out of the final three games, including both playoff contests. He played in 11 contests while missing seven.
"Missing time, that definitely wasn't fun," Monroe said. "Exciting that we made it to the postseason, disappointed that I didn't get to participate in the sense that I wanted to."
In the divisional playoff in New England, Monroe wasn't scratched from the game, but the Ravens opted to go with healthier undrafted rookie James Hurst instead.
"I just needed more time that I didn't have, unfortunately," Monroe said.
On Tuesday, Head Coach John Harbaugh confirmed that Monroe didn't start purely for health reasons. The Ravens felt like the healthy Hurst was a better option to play the entire game.
"Eugene was not 100 percent, but we felt like he was enough to be a good backup for us," Harbaugh said. "Credit to him for getting himself back to that kind of a position."
Harbaugh made it clear that "Eugene's our starter going forward, and we're happy to have that be the case."
Monroe reaffirmed his ankle isn't anything "scary" and that he will not need offseason surgery.
The workout machine said he's already started his training. Even the day after Baltimore's playoff loss, Monroe walked into the locker room in a towel after working out as his teammates were packing up their lockers.
The Ravens should have Monroe back anchoring the left side next year. In fact, all of their starting offensive linemen are set to return with Monroe, left guard Kelechi Osemele, center Jeremy Zuttah, right guard Marshal Yanda and right tackle Rick Wagner.
"Other than the ankle, I feel pretty fresh," Monroe said. "I'm going to grind it out like I always do and work to make it happen next year."
