Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco out for remainder of season with torn ACL

The Baltimore Ravens will be without quarterback Joe Flacco for remainder of season with a torn ACL suffered on the final series against the St. Louis Rams.

The Baltimore Ravens got a win over the St. Louis Rams, but it did not come without some serious blows to the offense.

The team lost Justin Forsett early in the game due to a broken right arm, but it was revealed after the game that quarterback Joe Flacco will be out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. It’s a crushing blow to a team that is already leading the league with the most players on injured reserve and more to come.

Eugene Monroe also left the game early with an injury that left the entire left side of the Ravens offensive line with backups to protect Flacco. That obviously was not the case as Flacco was hurt on the Ravens’ final drive that ultimately led to a Justin Tucker 47-yard field goal to give Baltimore a 16-13 win. Flacco did finish out the series, but John Harbaugh announced after the game that Flacco will be shutdown for the rest of the year.

Flacco and Forsett join a list that already includes Terrell Suggs and Steve Smith on injured reserve, arguably the top four players on this team. The leadership on this team is all but gone as the Ravens will field a team of mostly reserves over the final six games of the season.

Matt Schaub will take over at quarterback for the Ravens when they travel to take on the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football. The Ravens will have to find a backup for Schaub in the upcoming days as he is the only quarterback on the roster and will likely put Flacco on IR to open a roster spot.

The question now for the Ravens will be how long until Flacco is back on the playing field. It is possible that the veteran quarterback is not ready at the start of the 2016 season, depending on the severity of the injury. Flacco had started 122 straight games which was third among active quarterbacks and fifth most all-time. It also remains to be seen how his contract scenario plays out with the team needing to drop his cap number of $28.55 million in 2016.

The Ravens posted this on their official Twitter account after the game:

We at The Baltimore Wire share that sentiment and hope to see them back on the playing field to start the 2016 NFL season.

As more information becomes available, we will be sure to pass it along.