OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Wide receiver Marquise Brown and inside linebacker Patrick Onwuasor remained sidelined from Thursday’s practice as the Ravens count down to their meeting with Cincinnati.
Brown hurt his right ankle in the second quarter of the Week 5 win at Pittsburgh and didn’t return until the fourth quarter, registering just one catch for three yards after sustaining the injury. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman is hoping to get Brown going again after the 2019 first-round pick registered a total of 44 receiving yards over the last two games. However, he did make a terrific 11-yard touchdown catch before leaving Sunday’s game with the ailment.
Many are clamoring for offensive coordinator Greg Roman to find more creative ways to get the speedy Brown the football as defenses have gone out of their way to take away the deep ball since the first two games of the season when Brown registered a combined 12 catches for 233 yards and two touchdowns.
“I think we’d like to definitely deploy Marquise in a variety of ways,” Roman said. “I think if you do them all at once, that’s one way to do it. But you kind of like to evolve and add things as you go rather than just kind of throw it all out there in one game or two games. It’s a long season, so it’ll continue to evolve, his role.”
Onwuasor is also dealing with a right ankle injury despite playing all but six defensive snaps against the Steelers. With the arrival of veteran Josh Bynes to play the “Mike” linebacker position last week, Onwuasor moved back to the weak side, the position he previously played next to four-time Pro Bowl selection C.J. Mosley.
Should Onwuasor not be able to play Sunday, the Ravens would have to choose between second-year linebackers Kenny Young and Chris Board to play next to Bynes, who is rapidly gaining trust among Ravens coaches and teammates after a strong 2019 debut.
“The biggest thing Josh brought was a calmness to the middle of the defense, and it let ‘Peanut’ play faster,” defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said. “It just really brought a calmness to our group inside there with the linebacker room.”
Tight end Mark Andrews (left shoulder) and cornerback Maurice Canady (thigh) practiced on a limited basis Thursday after sitting out the first practice of the week.
Meanwhile, the Bengals welcomed back wide receiver A.J. Green to practice for the first time since the seven-time Pro Bowl selection injured his ankle on the first day of training camp in July. Green will not play against the Ravens, but his limited participation improves his chances of playing in Week 7.
Offensive tackle Cordy Glenn (concussion) didn’t practice after working on a limited basis Wednesday, making it likely he’ll miss his sixth straight game to begin the season.
Below is Thursday’s full injury report:
BALTIMORE
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: WR Marquise Brown (ankle), LB Patrick Onwuasor (ankle), CB Jimmy Smith (knee), DT Brandon Williams (non-injury)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: TE Mark Andrews (shoulder), CB Maurice Canady (thigh)
FULL PARTICIPATION: CB Brandon Carr (non-injury), RB Mark Ingram (non-injury), G Marshal Yanda (non-injury), S Earl Thomas (non-injury)
CINCINNATI
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: DT Ryan Glasgow (thigh), OT Cordy Glenn (concussion), OT Andre Smith (ankle), S Shawn Williams (thigh), DE Kerry Wynn (concussion)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: DE Carlos Dunlap (knee), WR A.J. Green (ankle), CB Dre Kirkpatrick (non-injury), G John Miller (groin), LB Nick Vigil (ankle)
FULL PARTICIPATION: K Randy Bullock (back), WR Alex Erickson (concussion), G Michael Jordan (ankle)
