OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens are coming off one of their most impressive wins of the last few seasons, but their health picture continues moving in the wrong direction.
A day after nickel back Ar’Darius Washington landed on injured reserve with a chest injury, eight players on the 53-man roster sat out Wednesday’s practice as Baltimore continued preparations for Sunday’s meeting with Indianapolis. In addition to the four starters who sat out the 27-24 win over Cincinnati, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (ankle), outside linebackers Odafe Oweh (ankle) and Jadeveon Clowney (illness), and running back Justice Hill (foot) were missing from the practice field.
Asked about Hill’s status after the fifth-year running back logged a career-high 14 touches for 53 yards against the Bengals, head coach John Harbaugh deferred to the injury report, adding that “it’s not anything to our advantage to talk about any of that stuff right now.” However, the Ravens adding running back Kenyan Drake to their practice squad — which already includes two-time Pro Bowl selection Melvin Gordon and undrafted rookie Owen Wright — was a sign that there’s at least some short-term concern about Hill, who is reportedly dealing with a toe injury. Of course, Baltimore already lost starting running back J.K. Dobbins to a season-ending Achilles injury in the season opener.
Signed by Indianapolis in early August before being released at the end of the preseason, the 29-year-old Drake appeared in 12 games for the Ravens last season, rushing for 482 yards and scoring five touchdowns in 12 games.
“He’s an athletic guy. He catches balls out of the backfield. He’s probably a real good fit in this offense,” Harbaugh said. “It’s funny — I was watching the Bengals tape last week again from last year as we were preparing. He was on the tape, and he had good games in those two games he played. I was thinking, ‘Man, Kenyan Drake looked good in those games.’ It’s like that, and next thing you know, here he is.”
Meanwhile, Indianapolis may not have first-round rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson, who remains in the concussion protocol after exiting in the second quarter of last Sunday’s win over Houston. Gardner Minshew would make only his fifth start of the last three seasons if the dual-threat Richardson isn’t cleared to play in Week 3.
To no surprise, the Ravens are preparing for either quarterback to play in Baltimore on Sunday.
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“They’re both two different types of quarterbacks the way they’re used, so we’ve been going over that,” safety Geno Stone said. “We’ve really just been preparing — whoever we get, it doesn’t matter. We have to go play our solid defense. That’s just facts. We’ll just go from there.”
Starting center Ryan Kelly is also in the concussion protocol.
Below is Wednesday’s full injury report:
BALTIMORE
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: WR Odell Beckham Jr. (ankle), OLB Jadeveon Clowney (illness), RB Justice Hill (foot), CB Marlon Humphrey (foot), C Tyler Linderbaum (ankle), OLB Odafe Oweh (ankle), OT Ronnie Stanley (knee), S Marcus Williams (pectoral)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: WR Devin Duvernay (shoulder)
INDIANAPOLIS
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: C Ryan Kelly (concussion), G Quenton Nelson (toe), QB Anthony Richardson (concussion)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: CB Kenny Moore (knee), DT Grover Stewart (foot)
