In his first sport since Jan. 16, 2021, Ravens working again Gus Edwards appeared to have his outdated legs again. And it didn’t take him lengthy to point out it.
On their third play Sunday in opposition to the Cleveland Browns, Edwards took a handoff from quarterback Lamar Jackson and burst up the center for a 12-yard acquire. For a participant who missed your entire 2021 season after tearing his ACL throughout final 12 months’s preseason, the second was a part of a day he known as “a blessing.”
“It took a lot of faith getting through everything and all the adversity I faced with the injury,” Edwards mentioned after the 23-20 win through which he led Baltimore’s resurgent speeding assault with 66 yards on 16 carries.
The early massive acquire was only a style of what was to come back. On the primary play after the two-minute warning within the second quarter, Edwards put the Ravens forward with a 7-yard landing run through which he was untouched and celebrated by leaping into the stands.
He wasn’t accomplished but. Edwards prolonged the lead once more, this time to 20-10, by punching it in from a yard out on fourth-and-goal halfway by the third quarter. Overall, he was every part the Ravens might hope for in his season debut, offering the offense some much-needed juice on a day when Baltimore struggled to get its passing sport going.
Edwards waited 645 days to really feel the enjoyment of scoring a landing. After his first, he mentioned he felt a way of aid, realizing all of the work he put into his rehabilitation had paid off.
“You work hard all week, you go over the same plays all week, and you envision everything being a touchdown,” Edwards mentioned. “It always feels like a release, but this one was special.”
Edwards mentioned his restoration course of was “up and down” — along with his ACL, he additionally tore his LCL and hamstring when he went down throughout the identical follow on Sept. 10, 2021, that cornerback Marcus Peters tore his ACL. Edwards famous that the rehab required a whole lot of time on the therapeutic massage desk and within the ice tub, and he praised the coaching employees for doing every part they may to deliver him again to full well being.
“I’m even fortunate to be playing right now with the type of injury I had,” he mentioned. “I just have to keep building off it.”
Edwards, who was activated from the physically-unable-to-perform record on Saturday, initially aimed to play within the season-opener in opposition to the New York Jets on Sept. 11. However, coach John Harbaugh at all times envisioned the fifth-year veteran to return between Week 5 and Week 7.
“That was kind of what the doctors, and [head certified athletic trainer] Adrian [Dixon], and [chief medical officer] Dr. [Andrew] Tucker were shooting for,” Harbaugh mentioned. “So, they deserve a lot of credit. [Football performance coach] Sam Rosengarten and [head strength and conditioning coach] Steve Saunders, they all did a great job.”
Edwards’ return comes at a important time for the Ravens, who positioned working again J.Okay. Dobbins on injured reserve after he had arthroscopic surgical procedure on his left knee. Harbaugh mentioned that Dobbins, who additionally suffered a torn ACL and extra injury to his knee final preseason, had a range-of-motion situation with scar tissue and hopes the process will speed up the restoration course of.
“[Dobbins] wanted to do it,” Harbaugh mentioned. “If it doesn’t work 100%, then he’s kind of on the slow road again. There’s no new injury or anything like that. He just wanted to take a shot at speeding up the process.”
Against the Browns, Edwards featured the identical power and energy he used to common 5.2 yards per carry and greater than 700 speeding yards per season in his first three years in Baltimore. Jackson praised the working again after the sport, saying, “We’ve got a lot of ‘scat’ backs, fast, elusive backs, but [Edwards] can do both. We’ve been missing the power, and it showed. He was hitting the holes and getting like 5 yards a carry sometimes.”
Edwards was certainly one of six Ravens to get a carry within the victory as they ran for 160 yards on 44 carries. Facing a fourth-and-1 at Cleveland’s 49, tight finish Mark Andrews lined up below heart as a quarterback earlier than tossing the ball to Jackson, who was appearing as a working again and gained 11 yards. Three performs later, kicker Justin Tucker nailed a 55-yard subject aim for a 23-13 lead early within the fourth quarter.
On one other fourth-quarter drive, Jackson handed the ball to Andrews for a 4-yard acquire to transform on third-and-1.
“It’s the way the game played out,” Harbaugh mentioned. “It was just kind of one of those kinds of games where you’re trying to win the game by whatever means necessary.”
But Sunday was Edwards’ second within the highlight, and he didn’t disappoint. He additionally ran for another person, as he performed the sport with the Nos. 4 and 5 written on his wrists to honor of late exterior linebacker Jaylon Ferguson, who died in June.
“This [win] for him,” Edwards instructed his teammates within the locker room.
Ravens honor former champs
Among the tens of hundreds who watched the Ravens beat the Browns at M&T Bank Stadium have been dozens of former gamers who know what it’s like to achieve the head of the game.
More than 50 members from the Ravens’ 2012 championship workforce have been launched throughout a pregame ceremony that featured former security Ed Reed carrying the Lombardi trophy with a cigar in his mouth whereas former linebacker Ray Lewis did his iconic “squirrel dance.”
The workforce gathered once more on the sphere at halftime, and govt vp of participant personnel Ozzie Newsome, Reed and Lewis addressed the group.
“Let’s go get another ring,” Lewis mentioned.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com
