Getty Ex-Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller tore his ACL Week 1 playing for the Ravens.
Former Chicago Bears starting cornerback Kyle Fuller has suffered a devastating season-ending injury in Week 1 of the 2022 regular season.
Fuller, who signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens this offseason, tore his ACL in devastating fashion. With just 1:18 left in the Ravens’ season opening win over the New York Jets, Fuller fell back awkwardly after Jets wide receiver Elijah Moore, who was penalized for offensive pass interference, pushed off.
“One of those things, just a crazy circumstance on Astroturf,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said about Fuller’s injury, via ABC 2 News in Baltimore. “He got pushed off and just landed the wrong way on the turf, and the turf doesn’t usually give as much as grass.”
Fuller, 30, is a Baltimore, Maryland native and was entering his ninth NFL season. “He’ll tell you, he really loves it here,” Harbaugh added. “His mom is here. He just liked everything about what we were doing and he fit in so well. And he was playing good ball in the game.”
Fuller Was Looking Forward to Playing in His Hometown
Fuller is coming off a lackluster season with the Denver Broncos in 2021. Opposing quarterbacks had a collective rating of 126.6 when throwing the veteran corner’s way last year, and he allowed 14.6 yards per reception according to Pro Football Focus.
“I think that always in your career you’ll have years where it doesn’t really go – not necessarily bad – you just learn from it,” Fuller told the Ravens’ official website in August about his struggles in Denver. “Sure, it probably wasn’t one of my best years. But, that’s OK. I guess, learn from that and move forward. It feels good, just to be back home. Doing it where I started when I was a kid. It feels good.”
“Of course, my family is excited,” Fuller added. “I still have a lot of good friends here, so it will be good to kind of see them more often than I was before. I’m looking forward to that.”
Unfortunately, Fuller didn’t get to play in front of his hometown crowd once, as his injury occurred on the road at MetLife Stadium.
Fuller’s Best Years Were With Bears
Fuller was a first-round pick out of Virginia Tech for Chicago in 2014 (14th overall), and he spent seven years with the Bears, getting named a first-team All-Pro in 2018, while making two Pro Bowls in 2018 and 2019. His best season came in 2018, when he led the NFL in interceptions (7) and passes defensed (21).
The Bears released him in a cap-saving move in March of 2021, and he landed in Denver shortly after that.
Fuller also suffered a knee injury in 2016, missing the entire season after having arthroscopic surgery, but other than that, he has been incredibly durable since entering the league. He hadn’t missed a game once in each of the previous five seasons prior to going down for the Ravens Week 1. In his six active seasons and 96 games with the Bears, Fuller amassed 390 tackles (328 solo, six for loss), 82 pass breakups, four forced fumbles and 19 interceptions (stats via Pro Football Reference).
So far over his eight years active, he has played in 113 career games (105 starts) and has 444 total tackles (371 solo, nine for loss), 86 pass breakups and four forced fumbles.