Join the huddle. Sign up here for Ravens updates in your inbox.

CINCINNATI — Ravens rookie linebacker Teddye Buchanan, who earned a starting role in Week 2, was carted to the locker room at the end of the first quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

The Ravens ruled him out with a knee injury. Sources confirmed he is expected to undergo an MRI on Monday for a suspected ACL tear. The sources requested anonymity because they are not authorized by the team to speak publicly about his status.

“We’ll know tomorrow, but I don’t think it looks good, initially,” coach John Harbaugh said after the game. “We’ll have to confirm that tomorrow.”

Buchanan appeared to be hurt on a noncontact play while in punt protection.

He was on the ground writhing in pain, bringing the trainers out. His defensive teammates kneeled around him, with his mentor and fellow middle linebacker Roquan Smith running to kneel by his head.

“It’s tough anytime you see your guy go down, somebody you go to war with every day and truly just a good dude — it gives me chills just thinking about it,” Smith said. “[...] There’s not much I can say in the moment outside of just that I’m there for him.”

Buchanan walked off the field with a trainer supporting him on each side. A cart came to pick him up on the sideline and drive him to the locker room.

After the game, Buchanan was sitting in the locker room with his right leg elevated and a brace around it. His teammates were checking in on him and volunteering to help him get his stuff out to the plane.

“That’s tough,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. “A rookie who’s been balling. I think that’s three rookie linebackers who have gone down with knee injuries. Football is weird like that sometimes.”

Linebackers Jay Higgins and Chandler Martin have both suffered major injuries, leaving the position group thin.

Smith said Buchanan is a “strong-minded individual,” and Hamilton said he knows he’ll come back strong. He also shouted out Trenton Simpson for stepping up in Buchanan’s absence.

Buchanan’s loss would be significant. He has 93 tackles (including two Sunday), five tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, half a sack and a forced fumble.

He made a pivotal play against the Pittsburgh Steelers, appearing to intercept Aaron Rodgers in the fourth quarter, but the official replay ruled it a Rodgers completion. Coach John Harbaugh questioned the call.

In other injury news, cornerback Chidobe Awuzie left in the third quarter with a foot injury and was ruled out. He left the locker room in a boot.

“We’re going to know more tomorrow,” Harbaugh said. “I think he got caught up in that netting down there in the end zone somehow with his foot or something.”

He appeared to get hurt on a deep pass from quarterback Joe Burrow that fell incomplete on fourth down.

Awuzie, who’s been limited by injuries in recent years, has been perhaps the Ravens’ most consistent cornerback this season. Playing as a part-time outside cornerback, he’s allowed 22 catches on 43 targets for 250 yards and one touchdown when targeted in coverage, according to Pro Football Focus.

T.J. Tampa replaced Awuzie on the Ravens’ next defensive drive.

This article has been updated.