OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Conducting their final practice of the season at their Owings Mills facility before departing for New Orleans on Monday, the Ravens were without two players as linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and wide receiver David Reed rested on Saturday morning.
Ellerbe has missed three practices this week as he takes advantage of the extra time between the conference championship and Super Bowl XLVII. The fourth-year linebacker acknowledged on Friday the ankle needed rest and he would have tried to push through the discomfort if the game were being played this weekend in New Orleans.
Tight end Dennis Pitta (thigh) returned to the practice field on Saturday after sitting out Friday’s workout. He played catch with quarterback Joe Flacco during the open portion of practice and appeared to be fine.
Reed is dealing with a hamstring issue that forced him out of the Ravens’ divisional playoff game against Denver but was listed as a full participant in Friday’s practice before sitting out a day later.
The Ravens issued a final injury report of the week on Friday, even though the Super Bowl will not be played until Feb. 3 and they’ll release a new set of injury reports next week. As a result, coach John Harbaugh didn’t appear to put much stock in the “final” report for this week by listing 19 players as questionable for a game that won’t take place on Sunday.
Baltimore departs for New Orleans on Monday afternoon and will conduct practices next week that will be open to just one pool reporter. The San Francisco 49ers will follow the same protocol, per NFL rules.
