Baltimore Beatdown
As the Baltimore Ravens continue to be stricken by an injury crisis over the past two weeks, they received a small dose of more positive news on Wednesday. All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton (groin) and starting left tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle), who both missed last week’s game against the Houston Texans, returned to practice. Stanley also was sidelined for the majority of the team’s Week 4 contest after exiting early in the game.
While they practiced in limited fashion, Hamilton and Stanley each practicing this early in the week bodes well for their chances of suiting up this Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. Either of them returning to the lineup would be a significant boost for the Ravens on offense or defense. In their absences last week, the Ravens started UDFA rookie Reuben Lowery at safety and veteran Joseph Noteboom at left tackle.
On the not-so-positive injury front, five injured starters remained sidelined and held out of Wednesday’s practice: QB Lamar Jackson (hamstring), LB Roquan Smith (hamstring), CB Marlon Humphrey (calf), CB Chidobe Awuzie (hamstring), and FB Pat Ricard (calf). In addition, WR Zay Flowers shoulder) and OT Roger Rosengarten (knee) were added to the injury report — although both still practiced as limited participants.
With the bye week on the horizon following Week 6, the Ravens may opt to play it safe with the return timeline for some of these players and not rush them back to action. That’s especially true for Jackson, whose availability is of utter importance for the Ravens’ hopes of a second-half turnaround this season.
Backup Cooper Rush started in-place of Jackson last week but after an underwhelming showing from the offense, the Ravens could make another change at quarterback. Head Coach John Harbaugh hinted earlier this week that the team may explore playing Tyler Huntley, who has started a number of games for the Ravens in previous years when Jackson has had to miss time.
Humphrey and Awuzie’s injuries forced the Ravens to give extended snaps to young defensive backs like Lowery and Keyon Martin last week. After the team added a pair of veteran safeties this week via trade (Alohi Gilman) and a free agent signing (Chauncey Gardner-Johnson), expect them to do more shuffling in the secondary again.
Ricard has now been sidelined for nearly two months with a nagging calf injury. Harbaugh finally provided some greater insight recently, claiming that Ricard was originally expected to be out for only a couple of weeks but suffered a setback. Now, he’s more than likely to be out again this week, with a targeted return to practice after the bye week.
