Ravens place RB Collins on IR, activate Dixon

The Baltimore Ravens shuffled their backfield, placing running back Alex Collins on injured reserve and activating Kenneth Dixon to the 53-man roster, the team announced Saturday. Collins has been hobbled by a foot injury for the past few weeks and lost his starting job to undrafted free agent Gus Edwards last week. Although he led the Ravens in rushing (411 yards) and touchdowns (8), Collins was averaging just 3.6 yards per carry and eclipsed 60 rushing yards in only one game this season. Collins took over as Baltimore's starter a month into the 2017 season and rushed for a career-best 973 yards on 212 carries. A fifth-round draft pick of Seattle in 2016, Collins rushed for six scores and averaged 4.6 yards per carry. Dixon was expected to compete for the starting job last season after rushing for 382 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie in 2016. He also had 30 catches and a receiving score. However, Dixon suffered a torn meniscus prior to training camp a year ago and had to undergo season-ending surgery, which allowed Collins to eventually seize the job as the starting running back. A fourth-round pick out of Louisiana Tech in 2016, Dixon returned to the lineup in a backup role in Week 1 but hurt his knee after rushing for 44 yards on 13 carries in a 47-3 rout of Buffalo. The Ravens placed him on injured reserve days later with the hope that he would be able to return later this season. Dixon could see a decent workload this week. Edwards, who rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the past two games with rookie Lamar Jackson at quarterback, has been limited by an ankle injury in practice this week.