BALTIMORE — What appeared to be a harmless tackle of Dallas Cowboys’ running back Phillip Tanner in the fourth quarter Sunday became the last play Ravens inside linebacker Ray Lewis will make this season.
Lewis, 37 years old and a veteran of 17 NFL seasons, now has to decide whether the Ravens’ victory Sunday will also be the final game of his Hall of Fame career.
A magnetic resonance imaging test taken Monday on Lewis’ right arm revealed the Ravens’ worst fear: a torn triceps, which is a rare but significant injury that will likely require surgery and an arduous six-month recovery period.
Selected after offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden in the first round of the Ravens’ first draft in 1996, Lewis has become the face of the franchise, one of the NFL’s most respected players, and one of the most celebrated linebackers ever.
Lewis always has been noncommittal about retirement, saying only that he’ll know when it’s time. Ravens coach John Harbaugh declined to speculate on whether Lewis may have played his last game.
“That’s for Ray to speak on,” Harbaugh said. “I admire Ray Lewis. I’ve said that many times. I think everybody in this room does. Everybody that knows him feels that way about him. I’m looking forward to seeing what Ray says about that.”
The Ravens are expected to put both Lewis and Lardarius Webb, their top cornerback who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the first quarter Sunday, on injured reserve as early as today, ending their seasons. Their losses further deplete a defense that is ranked an uncharacteristic 26th overall in the NFL and has allowed more than 200 yards rushing in back-to-back games for the first time in franchise history.
“I would rather not characterize my emotions because I’m disappointed for those guys,” said Harbaugh whose team is 5-1, tied with the Houston Texans for the best in the AFC. “It doesn’t matter how I or someone else feels about it. It’s their thing. These are guys who put so much effort, heart and soul into what they do.”
Harbaugh was given the news by Ravens’ head trainer Mark Smith just before 4 p.m. Monday. He hadn’t spoken to Lewis as of Monday afternoon, but Harbaugh sensed in his conversations with Lewis following Sunday’s game that it could be a serious injury. Lewis was getting treatment after the game and not available to reporters.
“He was worried about it,” Harbaugh said. “He said some things about his faith. He goes back to his faith, and he said some things that I’ll never forget. You look at his situation and what he’s accomplished and what he was hoping to accomplish this year. He’s going to have to accomplish those things in different ways because that’s the way it’s gone. He puts his faith in providence. That’s where he’s going to go with that.”
Lewis has absorbed some of the criticism because of the struggles of the normally stout defense despite leading the team with 57 tackles through six games. Lewis made many of those tackles down the field as critics pointed out that he was having a hard time getting off blocks and chasing down running backs.
He made a game-high 14 tackles Sunday and his takedown of Tanner came after a 6-yard gain at the 2-minute warning. Lewis immediately shook his right arm before heading to the sidelines, where he watched the remainder of the game. Lewis took a knee to watch the game’s final frantic moments, which included a dropped two-point conversion by Dallas wide receiver Dez Bryant that would have tied the game, and a missed 51-yard field goal by Dan Bailey that would have won it.
“It’s a devastating blow. He’s the heart of the defense,” said Ravens linebacker Dannell Ellerbe, one of several players who will be asked to occupy bigger roles in Lewis’ absence. “There’s nothing that I can say that people don’t know. It really hurts to lose a guy like Ray Lewis.”
