ExtremeRavens Posted August 26 Posted August 26 Keaton Mitchell wanders the sideline at the Ravens’ training facility in Owings Mills in shorts and a T-shirt. He is unexpressive in his gaze, has a slight hitch in his gait and a long scar is visible down the side of his left knee. As he watches another practice unfold without him, he takes some of the slowest strides he’s made since arriving in Baltimore a year ago. “When you talk about tough, man, he was in his feelings for a minute,” his father and former Ravens defensive back Anthony Mitchell told The Baltimore Sun from his home in suburban Atlanta. “He likes to be out there. He likes to work. He likes to grind.” It is difficult for perhaps the fastest player on the team — and one of the speediest in the NFL — to stay patient, even if he knows he has to be after suffering what one person in the Ravens’ building called a “nasty” torn ACL against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Dec. 17. The good news for Mitchell, and Baltimore, is that while three ligaments and some cartilage needed to be surgically repaired, there was no nerve damage or other complications. While it was initially believed he would not be able to practice until early December of this year, Mitchell is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation and could begin practicing as soon as about a month to six weeks into the season. The Ravens will and can afford to be cautious with his return, given the addition of four-time Pro Bowl back Derrick Henry, but it was clear from the beginning that Mitchell has the potential to be the kind of difference-making player in the organization’s pursuit of an elusive third Super Bowl title. Last spring, Mitchell was a mostly unknown (or at least underrated) player, a slight but nifty 5-foot-8, 191-pound flash with quick feet and elite speed. Over three seasons at East Carolina, he racked up 3,027 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns along with 60 catches for 580 yards and three scores. At the NFL scouting combine, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds, the third-best time among running backs in Indianapolis that week. But there were concerns about his size and (accurately) his durability. In signing with the Ravens, however, there was familiarity. Mitchell was also a good fit for an offense that was transitioning from the heavy-formation style of former offensive coordinator Greg Roman to the more spread-friendly scheme of Todd Monken. And there were questions about the team’s other running backs, the injury-prone J.K. Dobbins and powerful but less dynamic Gus Edwards. Then quarterback Lamar Jackson — one of the fastest players in the league himself — saw Mitchell during the preseason. “I wasn’t familiar with him in camp,” Jackson told The Sun. “I seen him run a couple times and I’m like, ‘Dang!’ But in preseason when he actually got in the game, I said, ‘He’s gonna be a problem.’ “I’m seeing him burn guys on angles. Guys have great angles on him and he still finds a way to get in front of them and speed up. His acceleration is crazy. Then he has the speed to keep going.” 2023 NFL: Seattle Seahawks at Baltimore RavensKarl Merton Ferron/Baltimore SunRavens running back Keaton Mitchell sprints past quarterback Lamar Jackson during a game against the Seahawks on Nov. 5. Jackson was impressed by the rookie before he suffered a season-ending knee injury in December. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) Mitchell’s regular-season debut was delayed by a shoulder injury that landed him on injured reserve to start the campaign. But once he returned to the field, it wasn’t long before his impact opened more eyes. In the first game in which he got a carry, a Week 9 win over the Seattle Seahawks, he had 138 yards and a touchdown on just nine attempts. Over eight games before getting injured, he had 396 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 47 carries, including seven runs of at least 20 yards, along with nine catches for 93 yards and two more scores. From Weeks 9 through 16, Mitchell was one of the fastest and best backs in the league. His 8.4 yards per carry and 5.9 yards after contact led the NFL. He was also third in broken tackle percentage and fourth in yards before contact (2.9) during that span. His top speed of 20.99 mph, per Next Gen Stats, was the fastest of any Ravens back last season. “When he got the opportunity to play with us in the regular season, it was like, ‘Damn this guy is crazy, he’s a different type of back,’” Jackson told The Sun. “It was like, ‘Bro, we got a chance with him.’” He added that Mitchell also reminded him of another player: Former NFL running back Chris Johnson. Like Mitchell, Johnson went to East Carolina, though he was a first-round pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2008 after a prolific college career and scouting combine. In his second year, Johnson led the league with 2,006 rushing yards, broke Marshall Faulk’s record of total yards from scrimmage with 2,509 and was named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year. It’s a lofty comparison, and Mitchell is smaller than Johnson, but his 40-yard dash time was only 0.13 seconds slower. “He had a different type of speed,” Jackson said of Mitchell. “Hopefully he gets back to that.” When or if he will remains to be seen, but there is precedent. Former NFL backs Adrian Peterson and Jamaal Charles both suffered significant ACL tears during their careers, yet returned with career-best numbers. In 2018, Dalvin Cook returned from his torn ACL the year before to average 3.02 yards after contact and 218 missed tackles forced, both better marks than before he got injured. And two years after current Philadelphia Eagles back Saquon Barkley returned from a torn ACL in 2020, he rushed for 1,312 yards while averaging 4.4 yards per carry for the New York Giants. Still, the road back has had its challenges for Mitchell, who was unavailable to speak for this story because he is injured, per Ravens policy. Ravens running back Keaton Mitchell suffered a season-ending knee injury in December against the Jaguars. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP) That the injury even occurred in the first place was almost fluke-ish. Early in the fourth quarter against the Jaguars, Mitchell took a handoff from Jackson and bounced to the outside, easily slipping through a pair of attempted tackles. With receiver Rashod Bateman blocking his man toward the sideline, Mitchell then cut back inside toward the open lane and sea of green in front of him and sped upfield as safety Andrew Wingard dived at his feet. Mitchell stepped through the tackle, but Wingard grabbed him just enough that it threw Mitchell’s stride out of whack. When his left foot hit the ground, his knee bent gruesomely backward. Mitchell’s father along with other family members and friends were watching from the upper deck of EverBank Stadium, and Anthony, who’d seen his share of injuries during an eight-year career, thought or perhaps hoped that it was just a hyperextended knee. “It was tough,” says Anthony. “He was in a groove. “[The injury] was hard for him at first. But by the end of the game, he came out on crutches and was smiling and signing autographs. He took it better than I did, knowing how competitive he is.” That resolve has perhaps helped guide Mitchell in his long, arduous recovery process, and his father says the love fans have showered his son with since he burst onto the scene in Baltimore has helped keep the 22-year-old in good spirits. “He’s doing really well,” coach John Harbaugh said in July. “He’s always got a smile on his face.” For now, though, he remains on the sideline and on the active/physically unable to perform list. If Mitchell is on the reserve/PUP list once the roster is trimmed to 53 players on Tuesday, he will have to miss at least the first four games of the regular season, though he will not count against the team’s roster during that time. After four games, he would have a five-week window to begin practicing. Even with the addition of Henry, who along with veteran Justice Hill will get the bulk if not all of the carries in Mitchell’s absence, a return by Mitchell in the middle or latter part of the season could once again be a boost for Baltimore. Henry is still one of the better backs in the league and Hill is a dependable change-of-pace option as well as an adept pass catcher and pass protector. But Mitchell would give the Ravens another player with game-breaking ability. Mitchell’s father, who was a playoff hero for Baltimore on its run to a Super Bowl title in January 2001, is biased but knows something about season-altering performances. “You haven’t seen nothing yet,” he says. “As long as he can come back at 100%, y’all ain’t seen nothing yet.” View the full article Quote
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