Baltimore Ravens Guard Marshal Yanda Fractures Left Ankle, Done for Season
The Baltimore Ravens are off to a great start so far, but they will have to play without a pivotal player from this point forward.
The Ravens have announced that guard Marshal Yanda has fractured his left ankle and he has been ruled out for the rest of the season. The six-time Pro Bowler went down with the injury in the third quarter of their 24–10 victory over the Cleveland Browns this past Sunday.
With their best offensive lineman on the sidelines, the Ravens have to rely on Tony Bergstrom. The team acquired the veteran center/guard in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals earlier this month, and he performed well when he came in for Yanda against the Browns. However, he understands that filling in for the Pro Bowler is going to be a challenging task.
"It's brutal. Obviously, you can't replace a guy like that. These 14 boots don't even compare to the shoes you have to fill with him," Bergstrom said, via the Ravens' official website.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh also talked about Yanda's importance to the team and he took some pressure off Bergstrom by saying that the entire team has to step up in his absence.
"Nobody can replace Marshal Yanda. Not one person. We traded for [Bergstrom] for a reason. Our scouts believed in him. It looks like a good trade. Everybody is going to collectively raise their effort level and their execution level to make up for the loss of a player like Marshal Yanda," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said, via ESPN.
In his 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), Yanda has been named to the first-team All-Pro team twice and he was voted to the second-team All-Pro team three times.
Losing Yanda is a huge blow, but the Ravens will have to make do without him this season.
