Ravens Safety Opens Up About Achilles Injury

The Baltimore Ravens' defense suffered a major blow in the secondary.

Baltimore Ravens safety Ar'Darius Washington leaves the field after the game against the Chicago Bears. | Quinn Harris-Imagn Images

On Tuesday, the Baltimore Ravens' secondary received some of the worst news imaginable.

Starting safety Ar'Darius Washington, who was instrumental to the Ravens' mid-season turnaround on defense, reportedly tore his Achilles tendon during conditioning. Washington was expected to play a big role in the secondary once again, but it's even more upsetting from a personal perspective. The former undrafted free agent is entering a contract year, and could've earned some serious money with another strong showing, but he instead has to deal with yet another setback.

Washington posted a message to Ravens fans on Instagram Wednesday morning, expressing his disappointment over the injury while vowing to bounce back in the future.

"Words can’t describe how I feel right now, up thinking all night why me? Why now? All I want to do is prove I’m one of the best in business yr after yr," Washington wrote. "But God said not right now, so until then we wait. (Micah 7:7) I appreciate everybody who reached out. Major love, it won’t be to long until I’m back standing on business know dat."

Washington, 25, has dealt with more than his fair share of injuries already. The TCU product suffered a season-ending foot injury as a rookie in 2021, then suffered a chest injury that sidelined him for almost the entire year in Week 2 of the 2023 season. He played just eight games over his first thre NFL seasons, and after finally showing what he can do in a larger role last year, he now risks missing the entire season again.

The Ravens added former Georgia safety Malaki Starks in the first round of last month's NFL Draft, so they thankfully have a starting-caliber player who can step right in. Second-year pros Sanoussi Kane and Beau Brade could also see more action after playing mostly on special teams as rookies.

However, there's no denying how much this injury hurts for both the Ravens and Washington himself.

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