Ravens-Colts preseason primer: Five players to watch

After beginning training camp more than a month ago, the Ravens have waited longer than usual to continue their preseason schedule as they take on Indianapolis on Monday night.
Entering a stretch of three exhibition contests in an 11-day period, John Harbaugh’s team also completed its second set of joint practices over the weekend, taking advantage of the longer-than-normal break since the Aug. 9 win over the Los Angeles Rams to work out with the Colts. An extra preseason game and joint practices with two different teams have broken up the usual monotony of summer and provided extra competition as the Ravens aim to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
“It’s definitely strange. I think the last few years we’ve been stacked just every week on Thursdays,” said quarterback Joe Flacco about the preseason schedule. “It just is what it is. We’re in the training camp flow right now. Obviously, when you start to play these games, it breaks things up a little bit. It’s always nice to get back to football.”
The practice sessions with the Colts did not come without drama, however, as a number of skirmishes broke out on Saturday. The Ravens had mostly avoided any semblance of fights in practices this summer as even two competitive workouts with the Rams two weeks ago remained mostly free of incidents.
Might there be some carryover into a nationally-televised preseason game?
“It cracks me up. Is this a healthy obsession that we all have with fights in training camp practices?” said Harbaugh after Saturday’s practice. “It’s nothing. It’s much ado about nothing. It got broken up pretty quickly, and we’re moving on.”
Monday marks the second time the Ravens and the Colts will face off in the preseason with Baltimore winning the only other exhibition encounter in 2016. Indianapolis leads the all-time regular-season series by an 8-4 margin and has won two of the three all-time postseason meetings.
The Ravens own a 30-12 record in preseason games under Harbaugh and have won 10 straight exhibition contests.
Unofficial (and largely speculative) injury report
The Ravens are not required to release an injury report like they do for regular-season games, but I’ve offered my best guess on what one would look like if it were to be released ahead of Monday’s game.
Most of the players ruled to be out will come as no surprise, but the status of a few will remain in question. Of course, this list does not include any veteran starters who could be held out due to the coaching staff’s preference.
Again, this is not an official injury report released by the Ravens:
OUT: LB Bam Bradley (knee), CB Jaylen Hill (knee), WR Quincy Adeboyejo (quadriceps)
DOUBTFUL: LB Alvin Jones
QUESTIONABLE: CB Maurice Canady (muscle strain), RB Kenneth Dixon (hamstring), LB Tyus Bowser (groin), G Marshal Yanda (shoulder/ankle)
Five players to watch Thursday night
RB Kenneth Dixon

The 2016 fourth-round pick entered summer as a roster lock and was viewed as a wild card in this offense, but a hamstring injury sidelined him for the first two preseason contests. On top of that, Dixon hasn’t done much to distinguish himself when he has practiced as running backs coach Thomas Hammock even acknowledged the need for him to get his body right. I’m not yet buying rookie free agent Gus Edwards seriously pushing Dixon for a roster spot, but the latter needs to start showing more.
LB Albert McClellan
The special-teams ace doesn’t immediately stand out as one of the longest-tenured Ravens, but the eighth-year veteran is one of the most respected players in the organization. That said, he’s coming back from a major knee injury and is competing in a deep group of young linebackers with only so many roster spots to go around. This is the most vulnerable McClellan has looked since his first couple seasons.
WR/RS Tim White
Many anointed the undrafted free agent from Arizona State as Baltimore’s next return specialist after his standout preseason debut last year, but durability has been a concern as White sat out his rookie year with a thumb injury and missed more time this summer. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound receiver has good speed and flashes from time to time as a receiver, but there’s no guarantee the Ravens will carry a specialized returner on the roster, especially with so many tough calls to make at other positions.
LB Tyus Bowser
Last year’s second-round pick had a terrific spring and looked poised to take on an expanded reserve role behind starting outside linebackers Terrell Suggs and Matt Judon, but a groin injury has cost him a sizable portion of training camp. His absence has opened the door for Tim Williams and Kamalei Correa to improve their stock in the linebacker pecking order, putting pressure on Bowser to stand out over these final three preseason games. The talent is there, but the 23-year-old needs these live-game reps.
OL Nico Siragusa
A long recovery from a serious knee injury made it tough to know what to expect from the 2017 fourth-round pick, but Siragusa has shown improvement since the start of camp. He was able to play 58 offensive snaps against the Rams after playing sparingly in the Hall of Fame Game, another encouraging sign. The battle for any reserve spots behind the top six offensive linemen looks to be wide open.