Baltimore Ravens: Running back Kenneth Dixon out for season after knee surgery

Baltimore Ravens running back Kenneth Dixon is out for the season after having knee surgery. In a corresponding move, the Ravens have signed running back Bobby Rainey.

Baltimore Ravens running back Kenneth Dixon is out for the season after having surgery to repair his meniscus, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport on Twitter.

Reports were initially that Dixon was having his meniscus trimmed, which has just a six-to-eight week recovery period, however according to Rapoport, his meniscus will have to be repaired instead of trimmed, a procedure that has a four-to-five month recovery period.

This is especially bad news for Dixon, as he’s already set to serve a four-game suspension once active for violating the league’s PED policy. Now, after he recovers from his knee injury, he’ll still have a four-game suspension looming before he can get back into action.

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Dixon played in 12 games last season for the Baltimore Ravens and ended up splitting the workload out of the backfield with Terrance West. He ended the year with 88 carries for 382 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 4.3 yards per carry.

In a corresponding move to Dixon’s injury, the Baltimore Ravens have signed running back Bobby Rainey. Rainey originally signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent, but never actually saw any action with them during the regular season.

Rainey played for the New York Giants last year, playing in 15 games but not starting in any of them. He had just 17 carries for 63 yards and spent more time as a receiving option out of the backfield, catching 20 balls for 153 yards.

Rainey does have experience as a starting running back in the NFL. In 2013 and 2014, he served as Doug Martin‘s backup for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He started six games in 2013 and ended the year with 137 carries for 532 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 3.9 yards per carry.

In 2014, he started five games and ended the season with 94 carries for 406 yards and one touchdown, averaging 4.3 yards per carry.

The Baltimore Ravens still have West in the backfield, as well as the newly-signed Danny Woodhead (who will still likely be a receiving option more than a every-down back), and along with them now they also have Rainey.

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How the starting job will shake out for the Ravens remains to be seen as training camp and the preseason go on, but it seems likely that either West or Rainey, or a combination of the two, will end up with the starting job while Woodhead remains a receiving back.