Injury to L.J. Fort Creates Void for Ravens

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens inside linebacker L.J. Fort suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second preseason game against the Carolina Panthers, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

This has created a void on the Ravens roster.

Fort provided valuable depth at linebacker and was also a key specials teams player.

“I haven’t heard a final thing yet. I’ll have to say, unfortunately, it does not look good from what I was told during the game with a knee injury," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said after the game. "I think it got stuck in that AstroTurf out there, unfortunately. So, we’ll get final word probably tomorrow with an MRI, but L.J. [Fort] has been playing great [and] practicing great. He’s been leading our guys. I mean, nobody is … He’s in the weight room every morning at 5:30 [a.m.] … So, it’s going to be an unfortunate injury for him, if that’s where it turns out to be.”

The Ravens could look to replace Fort with a free agent or provide a bigger opportunity with a current player on the roster.

Patrick Queen, Malik Harrison will be the starters at inside linebacker.

Chris Board, Kristian Welch and Otaro Alaka, who has been sidelined with a knee injury, are also in the mix for roster spots.

Last season, Fort finished with a career-high 46 tackles (28 solo) and had two tackles for a loss, two passes defensed, two fumble returns, including one for a 22-yard touchdown, and one forced fumble.

Fort also had eight tackles on special teams.

"As a linebacker, I feel like this is the perfect system you want to be in," Fort said last season. "There’s not a ton of thinking, and you can be aggressive and play fast. And then, when you have a D-line [defensive line] like we have in front of you, it makes things a lot easier for you, so you have room to make plays and do things like that."