OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens listed Joe Flacco as questionable to play against the New York Jets after he returned to the practice field on Friday.
Losers of three straight games, Baltimore can hardly afford to be without its franchise quarterback, who has dealt with a right shoulder injury this week. Taking part in a walk-through practice that did not involve helmets or shells, Flacco threw to Dennis Pitta from 10 to 15 yards away with plenty of zip on the football during the portion of practice open to media and did not show any discomfort.
“He looked good. He was throwing the ball well,” said Pitta, who teased his close friend about his absence from practices this week but added that he’d be surprised if Flacco doesn’t play. “He didn’t seem in any kind of pain. We’re excited to have him back out there, for sure.”
Flacco missed practices on Wednesday and Thursday after undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging exam earlier in the week. The 31-year-old signal-caller received treatment after participating fully in Friday’s workout and was not available to reporters.
Cornerback Jimmy Smith was also designated as questionable to play and was a limited participant for the third straight day. As of Friday afternoon, he hadn’t been fully cleared from the concussion protocol.
Veteran return specialist Devin Hester (thigh) is questionable after returning to practice on Friday and missing the Week 6 loss to the New York Giants, but the Ravens continue to be without wide receiver Steve Smith (ankle), linebackers Terrell Suggs (biceps), Elvis Dumervil (foot), and C.J. Mosley (hamstring), and right guard Marshal Yanda (shoulder). Dumervil and Mosley were officially ruled out on Friday while Smith, Suggs, and Yanda were all designated as doubtful.
The banged-up Ravens will certainly welcome their Week 8 bye after Sunday’s game.
“We have a lot of injured guys and guys who will need that time off,” Pitta said. “I think we’ll all welcome that time off to heal up and get ready to finish the season. It puts even more pressure on this game because everybody wants to go into that bye with a win. We certainly don’t want to lose four straight going into that bye and have to sit all week and think about it.”
Defensive backs Shareece Wright (thigh) and Kendrick Lewis (thigh) are also doubtful to play in Week 7. Wright hasn’t practiced since leaving Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants while Lewis was added to Thursday’s injury report as a limited participant, which often indicates an injury occurred during practice.
Rookie left tackle Ronnie Stanley (foot) was listed as questionable after being a full participant in practice for the third straight day, but head coach John Harbaugh offered little insight on his status for Week 7. The first-round pick has missed three straight games and was a limited participant in two practices last week before sitting out the loss to the Giants.
“I like what we saw,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll just see how he feels tomorrow after the work and see how he feels on Sunday.”
With seven players listed as doubtful or out, the Ravens could be in line to make a roster move or two ahead of Sunday’s game. Running back Lorenzo Taliaferro would be a potential option as he began practicing this week and is a good special-teams player.
Meanwhile, the Jets officially ruled out linebacker Darron Lee (ankle) and tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins (ankle) and listed defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson (ankle) as questionable after he failed to participate in Friday’s practice. Reports from New York indicated concern for the 2015 Pro Bowl selection’s Sunday status.
The referee for Sunday’s game will be Walt Anderson.
According to Weather.com, Sunday’s forecast calls for sunny skies with temperatures reaching the mid-60s and winds up to 17 miles per hour.
Below is the final injury report of the week:
BALTIMORE
OUT: LB Elvis Dumervil (foot), LB C.J. Mosley (thigh)
DOUBTFUL: S Kendrick Lewis (thigh), WR Steve Smith Sr. (ankle), LB Terrell Suggs (biceps), CB Shareece Wright (thigh), G Marshal Yanda (shoulder)
QUESTIONABLE: WR Kamar Aiken (thigh), QB Joe Flacco (right shoulder), RS Devin Hester (thigh), CB Jerraud Powers (thigh), CB Jimmy Smith (concussion), OT Ronnie Stanley (foot)
NEW YORK
OUT: TE Braeden Bowman (knee), LB Darron Lee (ankle), OL Brent Qvale (neck), TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins (ankle)
QUESTIONABLE: OL Ryan Clady (shoulder), OL Nick Mangold (knee), DL Muhammad Wilkerson (ankle)
