When the Ravens pushed second-year running back to injured reserve earlier this week, it was expected that it was because of his foot injury that had been cropping up during the official injury reports. However, when he took to Twitter to announce that surgery was successful, there was little floating around about what the injury was specifically.
I appreciate everyone that reached out to me sorry I couldn't respond to you all but surgery went well thank you guys
— lorenzo taliaferro (@ZoBot_45) October 15, 2015
Obviously, it's never good to have a player go through surgery, regardless of them being on injured reserve. So our minds go to the worst case scenario, which with a foot injury would be Linsfranc surgery. Linsfranc surgery is the same one that cornerback Jimmy Smith had that is still seeing him attempt to return to form. It's one that the Ravens and doctors were surprised he was able to return as quickly as he had in the first place, so it is a major one for any player to go through.
Well our fears appear to have been confirmed as coach Harbaugh was asked a bit about the injury and what was going on with Taliaferro.
It kind of took us by surprise there a little bit, but the foot had been bothering him. He tweaked it – maybe it was Oakland, or one of those weeks in there – and sat out that week, then came back the next week and just wasn’t getting much better. So, we sent him to see the foot specialist; I believe it was Dr. Anderson, and he just felt like the Lisfranc had reemerged from last year. They decided not to do surgery on it last year and just let it heal, and in some way, it kind of happened again, I guess. So, they decided to do the surgery right there. When he went there, they looked at it and they stayed and did the surgery. That’s what happened.
According to the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society, recovery from Linsfranc surgery can "take longer than one year for full recovery." If that timeline is accurate for Taliaferro, he could very well start next season on the PUP list until he is back to his old self.
While talking to Lorenzo during training camp, the second-year rusher looked leaner and had confidence surrounding him that he could compliment starter Justin Forsett and be a bigger part of the offense under new offensive coordinator Marc Trestman. Sadly for him and for the Ravens, his foot had other plans.
In the wake of Taliaferro heading to injured reserve, the Ravens went out and grabbed two additional running backs to help fill the void. Akeem Hunt and Raheem Mostert, both undrafted free agents were picked up by the Ravens this week and could very well see action Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers as Justin Forsett appears to be a game-time decision due to his ankle injury.
Hopefully he is able to get back to work soon and can come back even stronger in 2016 for the Baltimore Ravens.