Sep. 8—Last season was a difficult one for Pat Ricard.
He was one of several Baltimore Ravens players who contracted COVID-19 and experienced symptoms including temporary loss of smell, chest congestion and a dry cough.
The two-time Pro Bowl fullback also played the season with a torn labrum — the soft cartilage that surrounds the hip socket — that caused Ricard occasional pain.
Ricard underwent hip surgery the week after the Ravens’ final game, a 20-13 loss to Tennessee in the American Football Conference’s divisional round playoff game on Jan. 10.
Now the 27-year-old is preparing to take the field against the Raiders in Las Vegas on Monday, with much riding on his performance this season. Ricard is playing for a new deal at season’s end so the better he plays, the bigger his next contract will be with the Ravens or any other team that is interested in him.
He signed a two-year, $7,302,168 contract extension in December 2019.
“There is pressure. I have to stay healthy and keep playing. Contract or no contract, I’m just worried about helping the team. If I keep producing on the field, I’ll be able to keep playing. My next goaI is to play at least 10 years,” Ricard said.
His hip is fine with just a little residual soreness, and he only saw a handful of snaps in the last two of the three exhibition games.
Ricard finished his 44-game career at the University of Maine with 208 tackles, 47.5 for lost yards including 18 sacks. He also deflected 11 passes, forced three fumbles and blocked two kicks.
He wasn’t drafted but the Ravens signed him as a free agent.
He is coming off his best season to earn him a second straight Pro Bowl nod.
He had been one of the rare two-way players in the NFL, playing fullback and right end on offense and the line on defense. But he is in his second season as a full-time fullback without splitting his duty between offense and defense.
He caught a career-high nine passes for 45 yards and a touchdown last season after hauling in eight for 47 yards and a touchdown the previous year.
In 57 career games, he has 21 receptions for 104 yards and four touchdowns. He also has 20 tackles and a sack on the other side of the ball.
The Spencer, Massachusetts, native, who stands 6-3 and weighs 311 lbs, is known as one of the NFL’s most punishing blockers, which has helped the Ravens lead the NFL in rushing yards and yards per carry the last two seasons.
Dynamic quarterback Lamar Jackson is also a big reason for the rushing success.
Ricard and his teammates enter the season with unfinished business.
The team won back-to-back NFC North titles in 2018 and 2019, but Baltimore hasn’t played in a conference championship game since 2013 when it won the Super Bowl.
“We have to finally get over the hump in the playoffs,” he said. “We know we’re good enough.”
The Ravens are in one of the best divisions in the NFL with Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Ricard still keeps tabs on his alma mater and said he was very excited about the $90 million Harold Alfond Foundation gift to the school to improve its athletic facilities.
He is also glad the fans are back after playing games with no fans or a limited number of them last season.
“It was weird last season,” he said.