Baltimore Ravens Mascot Tears ACL, Team Will Hold Emergency Tryouts For Replacement

Whether it's the star QB or the team mascot, you don't play your starters in the final preseason game.

Injuries suck. They derail a season before it even gets off the ground, crush morale around the team, and, frankly, ruin the most wonderful time of year.

John Harbaugh announced earlier today what we all feared over the weekend: Poe, the Ravens' team mascot, is out for the year with a serious leg injury suffered in a halftime pickup game against an AAU team. 

"Poe is gonna be put on injured reserve the rest of the season, he's gonna be done," Harbaugh said to start his press conference Thursday. "Unfortunately, he sustained a serious injury to his drumstick.

"We're gonna find a replacement ... we're gonna go to work on that right away. We're gonna turn over every stone, scour everywhere and find his replacement."

Watch the devastating announcement below.

OK, it's funny. It's well done, clever, and light-hearted -- things we won't really get from these coaches starting next week for the next five months.

But the "drumstick" line is so bad it almost ruins it for me. Like, we already know this is a joke -- not the injury part, that's actually true -- and we don't need to force it.

Poe, the Ravens mascot, is out for the year.

All in all, good stuff here. Tryouts, by the way, are on the way for Poe's replacement for you dreamers out there.

Twitter, of course, chimed in with a few suggestions, including the obvious choice:

Don't hate this idea, either.

Regardless, we've learned two things today: rest your starters, and don't hold your fantasy draft until after the third preseason game.

Hope someone has an IR spot for our guy Poe -- he could be a cheap keeper come next season.