Ravens receiver Aaron Mellette's knee has two cartilage tears

In a way, rookie receiver Aaron Mellette's preseason is a little more remarkable than you'd think.

He played through a decent amount of pain in his knee, though it was something the Elon product was able to push through. But enough can become enough, which caused Mellette to finally get it checked out.

Unfortunately for Mellette, some damage was found, which meant a four-to-six week recovery time. Since a doctor was able to sign off on a potential six-week recovery, the Ravens placed the rookie on season-ending injured reserve.

"[Mellette's] knee was kind of bothering him, but he was working through it all through training camp," coach John Harbaugh said Friday. "He was fighting it, but he seemed fine. It would swell up, and then he would take a day, and then he'd be OK. We sent him down to Dr. [James] Andrews just to check it, and he ended up having two cartilage tears. [It's] not major, but they would be four-to-six-week [injuries], so we don't really have time for that in terms of holding a roster spot. We figured we'd go ahead and make the move and get him healthy."

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