OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Twenty-four hours after confirming Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman would miss “a number of weeks” with a groin injury, John Harbaugh provided another update on the 2021 first-round pick on Thursday.
Whether it’s the positive development the head coach described it to be is up for interpretation with Bateman now set to undergo surgery. And with the announcement comes increasing doubt about his availability for the season opener against Las Vegas on Sept. 13.
“He actually is getting a surgery either today or Friday on his groin,” Harbaugh said. “He’ll be back from that sometime in September. So, I think that’s pretty good news.”
It’s a fair description when considering the entirety of the 2021 season if doctors determined a substantial risk for a setback by going the conservative route of Bateman rehabbing the injury. The goal should be for the talented wideout to be as healthy as possible for the bulk of the long 17-game regular season and beyond, but the rookie being ready to play against the Raiders in just 4 1/2 weeks feels increasingly ambitious without even considering the practice time he’ll have missed by then. The Ravens like what they’ve seen from Bateman when he’s been healthy and consider him a key component to improving a passing game that finished 18th in yards per attempt last season.
Periodically dealing with what Harbaugh described as muscle soreness and tightness going back to voluntary spring workouts, the 6-foot-1, 193-pound Bateman appeared to tweak his groin area in the July 31 practice at M&T Bank Stadium. From that point, he had missed three full practices and been limited in other workouts before sustaining the more severe groin injury while running a slant route during Tuesday morning’s practice.
Should Bateman not be ready to play against the Raiders, Kansas City in Week 2, or Detroit in Week 3, the Ravens would have the option to place him on injured reserve, which will retain the modified rules instituted last season in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams will once again be permitted to designate an unlimited number of returns from IR with players required to miss a minimum of only three games. However, any player fitting into that category must be on his team’s initial 53-man roster at the end of the preseason. The pre-pandemic rules limited the number of return designations per season and required players to miss at least eight games.
On Thursday afternoon, Bateman tweeted that he would “be back soon” from the injury and surgery. Without star quarterback Lamar Jackson for the first 10 days of training camp because of a COVID-19 infection, the Ravens have also been without top wide receiver Marquise Brown (hamstring) since the second day of full-team workouts. The extended camp absences of Brown and Bateman make it difficult to envision the Baltimore passing attack hitting its full stride by Week 1, but the presence of a ground game that’s produced more than 3,000 rushing yards in each of the last two seasons should ease concerns in the meantime. After 25 regular-season wins and two divisional-round exits over the last two years, the obvious goal is to make a deeper postseason run to the Super Bowl, something that will be more attainable if surgery can ensure a healthier Bateman in December and January.
The University of Minnesota product never missed a game due to injury in his collegiate career, making 147 receptions for 2,395 yards and 19 touchdowns in 31 games over three seasons.
