Two former Ravens staples are at risk of missing the remainder of their inaugural seasons with new teams.
New York Jets inside linebacker C.J. Mosley is expected to miss the next five to six weeks after aggravating a groin injury, while Denver Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco might miss significant time because of a herniated disk in his neck. Jets coach Adam Gase and Broncos coach Vic Fangio announced the injury updates Monday.
Mosley initially suffered the injury during the Jets' season opener against the Buffalo Bills. He missed the next four games but returned for the team's Week 7 game against the New England Patriots.
Mosley's latest injury development would put him on track to return in Week 15, when Ravens host the Jets on "Thursday Night Football," but the Jets could opt to shut him down for the rest of the year if they are eliminated from playoff contention.
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The Ravens were in line to recoup a third-round compensatory draft pick for Mosley, who signed a five-year, $85 million deal with the Jets in the offseason, which at the time was the richest for an inside linebacker in NFL history. Mosley's playing time is factored into the projected pick, so if Mosley were to miss another extended period of time, the pick could be in jeopardy of being downgraded to a lower round.
In one season with the Jets, Mosley has already missed more games (five) than he missed in all of his five seasons with the Ravens (three).
Flacco has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns, Fangio said, and backup Brandon Allen will start.
The move comes one day after Flacco criticized the team's lack of aggressiveness in a 15-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts that dropped the team to 2-6.
"We're now a 2-6 football team and we're like afraid to go for it in a two-minute drill, you know?" Flacco said after the game. "Like who cares if you give it back to the guys with a 1:40 left? They obviously got the field goal anyway. Once again, we're a 2-6 football team and it just feels like we're kind of afraid to lose a game."
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Fangio told reporters Monday that Flacco will be evaluated after the bye in two weeks but that he didn't think the veteran quarterback would land on IR.
Flacco has yet to miss a game in his first season with the Broncos. He started 122 consecutive regular-season games to begin his career before tearing his ACL against the then-St. Louis Rams in 2015.
The 34-year-old returned to the field to start the 2016-17 season and started all 32 regular-season games the next two years before injuring his hip last season against the Pittsburgh Steelers in what would be his last start as a Raven.
