DeShon Elliott likely out for the rest of the season with a knee injury

Ravens’ HC John Harbaugh dropped a bombshell in his weekly Monday press conference today following the team’s victory over Cincinnati. Harbaugh announced that defensive back DeShon Elliott is likely to miss the remainder of the season.

Elliott appeared to suffer an injury towards the end of yesterday’s game and sat out the final few series. However, while the severity of his injury was unknown, it didn’t sound very serious or problematic - it seems as though nobody even knew the specifics of the injury itself either.

Unfortunately, we learned today that Elliott suffered an issue with his knee that will cause him to miss the remainder of the season.

“It’s way worse than we thought it would be,” Harbaugh said.

This is quite a crushing blow not just to the team, but for Elliott himself. The second-year safety missed his entire rookie campaign with broken forearm and now has his first taste of action cut short after just six games.

Elliott, 22, had flashed for Baltimore at times this season, albeit in a limited role. However, that role was set to expand in the wake of Tony Jefferson’s season-ending torn ACL. Against the Bengals, Elliott played more snaps and made a key play in the second half, laying a big hit on WR Tyler Boyd to prevent a contested catch on Marlon Humphrey.

“The Joker” was just beginning to assert himself as a legitimate playmaker in the secondary but we will now have to wait to see him again until next season at the earliest. Elliott joins Jefferson and CB Tavon Young on injured reserve. Starting corner Jimmy Smith has yet to play since suffering an MCL sprain in Week 1, too.

Needless to say, the Ravens’ secondary has been dealt numerous blows thus far. Without Elliott, Baltimore is down to just three healthy safeties on the roster: Earl Thomas, Chuck Clark, and Anthony Levine Sr.

Eric DeCosta and company will almost certainly make a move in the coming days - or even hours - to compensate for the loss of Elliott in the defensive backfield.

In all honesty, this really sucks. Prayers up to DeShon for a speedy and healthy recovery.