The Ravens have lost another key player to a long-term injury, as defensive end Brent Urban suffered a Lisfranc foot injury in Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Head Coach John Harbaugh announced that Urban will have surgery.
In his fourth season with the Ravens and first as a full-time starter, Urban was looking like a potential breakout star this season.
The 6-foot-7, 300-pound monster dominated in the preseason and was a strong presence in the team's first two games, though it didn't show up much in the stat sheet with four tackles and one pass deflection.
A fourth-round pick out of Virginia in 2014, Urban has had terrible luck with injuries. He tore his ACL during his first training camp, knocking out his rookie season. A torn biceps stripped him of 10 games the following year.
Urban played a full season for the first time last year, and had 10 tackles, two sacks and two passes defensed while backing up Lawrence Guy. The Ravens let Guy walk in free agency this offseason in part because of their confidence in Urban.
The Ravens will now likely turn to second-year defensive end Bronson Kaufusi and/or third-round rookie Chris Wormley to take Urban's spot.
Kaufusi, a third-round pick out of Brigham Young University, has been inactive for the first three games, but was impressive in training camp and the preseason. He is built like Urban, standing in at 6-foot-6, 285 pounds. Like Urban, Kaufusi missed his entire rookie season (broken ankle).
The team's other defensive end is Wormley, who has been a healthy scratch the first three weeks. The Michigan product is 6-foot-5, 300 pounds.
Defensive tackle Willie Henry slid over to fill Urban's place after he went down trying to stuff a fourth-down run by big-bodied Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette.
If Urban is placed on injured reserve, it will inflate the Ravens' league-high total to 16 players, and that doesn't include tight end Dennis Pitta.
While most of the injuries have been on the offensive side of the ball, it's the second defensive "starter" to go down as Urban joins cornerback Tavon Young. Linebacker Albert McClellan (knee) was also a big loss and cornerback Maurice Canady (knee) could still return later this season.
"We've had a lot of practice this year with guys stepping up," Harbaugh said. "We're getting good at it now."
