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OWINGS MILLS, Md. — As expected, the Ravens will place left guard Kelechi Osemele on season-ending injured reserve this week as he prepares to undergo back surgery to correct a bad disc that’s affected him in each of his first two seasons in the NFL.
Coach John Harbaugh confirmed the news on Monday as the Ravens regrouped from a disappointing 24-18 loss to the Cleveland Browns. After Osemele missed practices last Thursday and Friday, Harbaugh announced the second-year guard would be out for Sunday’s game and indicated his hopes of playing again in 2013 were very slim.
“He’s headed to IR,” Harbaugh said Monday. “He’s working right now with the doctors and his representative to find what type of surgery he wants to do and who’s the best person to do it.”
Backup center A.Q. Shipley made his first career start at left guard against the Browns and appears likely to remain as the starter at the position for now. The former Indianapolis Colt took over at left guard after the opening series against the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 5 with Osemele unable to play with back spasms.
Third-year lineman Jah Reid and rookie Ryan Jensen will also be evaluated during practices, but Harbaugh indicated Shipley would remain the starter for at least the time being.
“A.Q.’s a pit bull. He’s a fighter in there,” Harbaugh said. “He’s smart. He knows what to do, and he plays with good technique. We’re pleased with the way he played.”
With Osemele expected to be placed on IR at some point this week, the Ravens could use the open roster spot to activate cornerback Asa Jackson from the reserve-suspended list. The 2012 fifth-round pick was suspended for eight games after testing positive for Adderall, his second violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
The groin injury suffered by starting cornerback Jimmy Smith against the Browns isn’t considered serious, but his uncertain status improves Jackson’s chances to return to the roster. The Ravens only have four cornerbacks on their 53-man roster, and Jackson would likely be a useful player to have on the kick coverage units.
“Asa says he’s been working hard [and] that he’s in great shape,” Harbaugh said. “He was working with trainers in Arizona and Los Angeles — some football trainers working on football-related stuff. Hopefully he’s in the kind of shape where he can slide right in there and help us.”
The Ravens would likely be granted a roster exemption if they wanted to take a few extra days to evaluate his level of conditioning since he hasn’t been able to practice with the team since early September.
The decision to remove Smith from the game on Sunday was more of a precautionary measure, but it’s a disappointing development for the 2011 first-round pick, who has struggled to stay healthy in his brief NFL career. However, Harbaugh said the cornerback was “feeling better” when he arrived at the team’s Owings Mills facility on Monday morning.
“He had a little groin in there, and we felt like it was better for Chykie [Brown] to play during the game — the trainers did,” Harbaugh said. “He’ll keep working on that through the course of the week, and we’ll see how that develops and see how he practices Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.”
Jackson is the second Ravens player to come off suspension this year as former fourth-round safety Christian Thompson served a four-game ban to start the season, but the organization elected to waive the 2012 draft pick after he had done very little to impress during the preseason.
