It's unfair to label Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Breshad Perriman a bust after he partially tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last week.
All anyone knows about Perriman right now is he has extremely bad luck.
This is the third time he has hurt his knee in his 14 months with the Ravens. He missed his entire rookie season after spraining his posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on the first day of last year's training camp and then aggravated the injury in October just when it looked like he was about to return.
This knee injury is different because it's bad luck combined with brutal timing. Perriman lost his closest friend on the team, cornerback Tray Walker, in a dirt bike accident on March 20 and watched his father, Brett Perriman, hospitalized in critical condition after he suffered a significant stroke in May.
"I just think you can’t take anything for granted, for the most part," Perriman said last month when asked if his father's health issues put last year's injury into perspective.
Now, Perriman is potentially facing another season-ending injury after dealing with the death of Walker and the life-threatening illness of his father, who has been transferred to a rehab center. Perriman will visit Dr. James Andrews on Monday to determine the severity of the knee injury.
The concern for the Ravens is how Perriman will handle another devastating setback. As he dealt with last year's injury, Perriman sunk into what he described as a "dark hole." He started not returning his parents' phone calls, and coach John Harbaugh found it difficult to talk to him.
The reason why there is so much disappointment is Perriman's exciting potential. During the Ravens' organized team activties, he looked like the player who covered 40 yards in 4.25 seconds at his Pro Day and was drafted No. 26 overall. The 6-foot-2, 218-pound receiver was flying down the field. He still had to prove he could do that against cornerbacks in meaningful games, but his speed stood out at offseason practices.
It's possible the Ravens will have to wait another full year to see Perriman catch deep passes from Joe Flacco. But it's way too early to write off Perriman. Even if this is a season-ending injury, he will only be 23 when he recovers from it.
The Ravens might need to rely more on veteran Mike Wallace and rookie fourth-round pick Chris Moore for big plays in the passing game. Next year, Baltimore could be without wide receivers Steve Smith (retirement) and Kamar Aiken (free agent), so Perriman should once again figure prominently in the Ravens' plans at wide receiver.
Some will say the Ravens can never depend on Perriman after this latest injury. But Perriman wasn't considered injury prone coming out of Central Florida. He played in 14, 12 and 13 games in his three seasons in college. His durability was graded as above average by scouts.
It just hasn't worked out the way anyone envisioned in the NFL, which will lead to frustration for Perriman, the Ravens and the fan base. But no one can blame Perriman. He is just dealing with the biggest misfortune that has ever hit a Ravens' first-round pick.
