Jefferson’s career changed that night in Pittsburgh. He had never suffered a major injury before. Jefferson went down while grabbing a tight end that had gotten past him. He immediately knew his season was over. All of Jefferson’s guaranteed money had been paid, so he also knew he was going to be released with one year left on his contract.
Jefferson hung around the team for the remainder of the season, which helped and hurt. The Ravens went on a 12-game winning streak after Jefferson was out of the lineup. Chuck Clark stepped into Jefferson’s spot, Eric DeCosta traded for Marcus Peters and added other pieces, and the Ravens went on a historic run.
“It was kind of rough. I’m hurt and I’m like, ‘So the team is actually doing a lot better without me,'” Jefferson said.
“I think the best thing for me at that time was just to be around the guys, because that’s where my heart was. That kind of helped me through the process. But once it was over, that’s when it really sunk in. You’re about to be jobless and you’re going to have to recover from this tough injury.”
Jefferson hadn’t just suffered an ACL tear. There was damage to other ligaments in his knee as well, making the initial surgery more extensive and the recovery more arduous. On top of that, doctors also found that Jefferson’s body produced more scar tissue than most. His knee was becoming encased in it.
“My knee at one point was just stuck. It wouldn’t move,” Jefferson said. “I really couldn’t get any range of motion in my knee.”
Jefferson had a second surgery in February to clean out the scar tissue. It wasn’t enough. He went under the knife again in June of 2020. That provided enough relief for Jefferson to get midseason interest from the Indianapolis Colts, who brought him in for a visit. After the workout, Jefferson spoke with Colts General Manager Chris Ballard. Both knew he wasn’t ready.
“I knew it, but I was going to try to force it. I wanted to get back,” Jefferson said. “I was moving, but I wasn’t going to…
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