OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Dealing with a short week after a Monday night road win, the Ravens could be short-handed for their Week 8 trip to Cleveland to take on the last-place Browns.
Cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey (knee) and Nate Wiggins (shoulder), wide receiver Zay Flowers (ankle), and defensive tackle Travis Jones (ankle) were among the notable players sitting out Wednesday’s walk-through practice. Head coach John Harbaugh remains “hopeful” that Humphrey will be able to play against the Browns, but the Ravens were thankful that the three-time Pro Bowl defensive back avoided a serious injury when he hurt his right knee catching his second interception from Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield late in the second quarter of Monday’s 41-31 victory. Humphrey went to the locker room before halftime and was ruled out for the remainder of the game at the start of the third quarter.
Flowers battled through a right ankle injury suffered on the first play of the second quarter and still managed to play 42 snaps despite catching only one pass for 11 yards on the night. Meanwhile, Wiggins appeared to land awkwardly on his left shoulder late in the third quarter, but he remained in the game to play a career-high 67 snaps in Humphrey’s absence. It’s unclear when Jones hurt his ankle, but he logged a season-low 25 snaps and didn’t look like himself in very limited action in the second half.
“All those guys are guys that have a chance to be back [for Sunday’s game],” Harbaugh said. “We’ll just have to see how it plays out during the week. The guys that are ready, they’ll play. If a guy doesn’t quite make it, then he won’t be able to play. Right now, we don’t know who that’s going to be.”
Rookie cornerback T.J. Tampa (ankle) also missed Wednesday’s practice, leaving the secondary on precarious footing. Baltimore did activate veteran slot cornerback Arthur Maulet (knee/hamstring) from injured reserve on Tuesday, but he was listed as a limited participant on Wednesday. The Ravens also designated cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (hamstring) to return to practice from IR on Wednesday.
Second-year running back Keaton Mitchell made his much-anticipated 2024 practice debut a little over 10 months after he suffered a torn ACL and other ligament damage to his left knee in the Week 15 win over Jacksonville last December. Harbaugh confirmed Mitchell won’t play against the Browns this week and will ramp up gradually in hopes of being activated by the end of his 21-day practice window.
Mitchell has been on the physically unable to perform list since the start of training camp.
“The litmus test? That he practices well. He can make all the change of direction cuts. He can be productive,” Harbaugh said. “But also, he can protect himself. That’s probably the most important thing — that we feel like he’s strong enough to protect himself. That’d be the No. 1 thing.”
Having missed multiple games this month, linebacker Malik Harrison (groin) and defensive tackle Broderick Washington (knee) were listed as limited practice participants on Wednesday.
After losing maligned starting quarterback Deshaun Watson to a torn Achilles tendon in last Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, the 1-6 Browns announced veteran quarterback Jameis Winston will start against the Ravens. Head coach Kevin Stefanski also revealed that he’s turning over the play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey.
Two starting offensive linemen — left tackle Jedrick Wills (knee) and center Ethan Pocic (knee) — and starting linebacker Jordan Hicks (elbow/triceps) sat out Wednesday’s practice for Cleveland. However, the Browns designated two-time Pro Bowl right guard Wyatt Teller (knee) to return to practice from IR.
Below is Wednesday’s full injury report:
BALTIMORE
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: RB Rasheen Ali (ankle), WR Zay Flowers (ankle), CB Marlon Humphrey (knee), DT Travis Jones (ankle), CB T.J. Tampa (ankle), CB Nate Wiggins (shoulder)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: CB Jalyn Armour-Davis (hamstring), LB Malik Harrison (groin), CB Arthur Maulet (knee/hamstring), RB Keaton Mitchell (knee), DT Broderick Washington (knee)
CLEVELAND
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: RB Jerome Ford (hamstring), S Ronnie Hickman (ankle), LB Jordan Hicks (elbow/triceps), DT Quinton Jefferson (non-injury), C Ethan Pocic (knee), OT Jedrick Wills (knee)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: CB Tony Brown (ankle), OT Jack Conklin (knee), G Wyatt Teller (knee)
FULL PARTICIPATION: DE Myles Garrett (Achilles), WR Jerry Jeudy (knee), QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (right finger)