It’s not getting any better for J.K. Dobbins.
The Ravens’ starting running back tore his Achilles during the team’s Week 1 game against the Texans on Sunday, head coach John Harbaugh confirmed following a 25-9 win.
The season-ending injury is a crushing blow for Dobbins, 24, who missed the entirety of the 2021 season with a knee LCL tear in August of that year.
The Ohio State product had already punched home a touchdown for the Ravens on Sunday, taking eight carries for 22 yards and a score in a promising early development.
He appeared to roll his ankle while getting tackled near the sideline with about 10 minutes to play in the third quarter and was taken to the locker room shortly after.
Dobbins was selected No. 55 overall in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft and has been unable to seize the starting running back role since his standout rookie year in 2020.
That season, he rushed for 805 yards in 134 attempts with nine touchdowns, appearing to emerge as a promising running option in the Ravens’ attack.
Following Dobbins’ knee injury in 2021, he returned for eight games in 2022, taking 92 attempts for 520 yards and two touchdowns.
Backup running back Gus Edwards figures to assume starting duties if Dobbins is indeed sidelined for the rest of the season.
Edwards has served as a backup for the Browns since 2018, running for at least 700 yards in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Baltimore went 10-7 last year and finished second in the NFC North, losing in the Wild Card round of the playoffs to the Bengals.
Dobbins was previously embroiled in a contract dispute with the Ravens, likely seeking a contract extension during the last year of his rookie deal and initially failing to show up to training camp.
“So, the thing I can say is — I would love to be a Baltimore Raven for the rest of my career,” Dobbins. “I would love to because I love the city, I love the people. It feels like family here. It feels like my second home. And I hope that happens,” the running back said in an interview with the CBS News affiliate WJZ-TV.
Dobbins, who is slotted to make $1.391 million this year, ultimately ended his holdout.
“The business side is very hard. It’s very different,” Dobbins said. “You saw with Lamar [Jackson] … It’s never just roses and daisies. It can be hard at times and it’s business, though.”