Martin went down on the first play of the Ravens’ loss to the Bengals on Thanksgiving. Head coach John Harbaugh said after the game that he had suffered “a more serious knee injury.” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported on Friday that Martin would go on season-ending injured reserve, and Rapoport’s recent update seems to confirm that report.
Martin, 22, appeared in Baltimore’s last three games as a practice squad elevation with 34 snaps and five tackles on special teams. He replaced fellow undrafted rookie linebacker Jay Higgins, who landed on IR after sustaining a knee injury in Week 9.
The Ravens will likely place Martin on IR in the coming days, which will open up a spot on the practice squad. The team could make an outside addition to replace Martin’s special teams snaps, but they also have an obvious internal candidate in safety Sanoussi Kane, who was a core special teams player for the first six weeks of the season. He was waived during the bye week, shortly after the Ravens traded for safety Alohi Gilman.
Undrafted rookie Keondre Jackson has taken on the lion’s share of Kane’s special teams work and emerged as an impact player on the kick and punt coverage units. Officially, Jackson has nine tackles plus a fumble he forced and recovered Week 9; he has also earned a 90.4 special teams grade from Pro Football Focus, the highest of any player in the league (min. 50 snaps).