After resting 18 healthy veterans during the preseason opener, the Ravens will take a similar approach welcoming Atlanta to town on Saturday afternoon.
Head coach John Harbaugh confirmed the list of non-participants will once again be headlined by two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. And while that crushes the game’s entertainment value for paying fans, one certainly understands keeping top players out of harm’s way in a meaningless exhibition, especially with the Sept. 5 opener in Kansas City less than three weeks away.
Of course, most of the real work and evaluation takes place during training camp practices anyway, and Harbaugh is pleased with what he’s seen over the last four weeks.
“I don’t have to say much to these guys about taking care of themselves because they do,” Harbaugh said. “They get their rest. They take care of their bodies. They come in ready to go to work, and they come to work ready to work, and you see that by the way they work. I’m just proud of them. They’re making the most of this training camp for sure. They really are, and let’s see where it takes us.”
This marks the 12th time and first since 2015 that the Ravens and Falcons will meet in the preseason with Baltimore owning a 7-4 all-time advantage. These teams last met in the regular season in 2022, which resulted in a 17-9 home win for the Ravens on Christmas Eve.
Unofficial (and speculative) injury report
The Ravens are not required to put out an injury report like they do for regular-season games, so I’ve offered my best guess of what one would look like if it were to be released ahead of Saturday’s game.
The players estimated 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 the healthy starters and veterans who will be held out due to the coaching staff’s decision.
Below is the unofficial injury report:
OUT: ILB Chris Board (concussion), C Tyler Linderbaum, CB Arthur Maulet (knee), CB T.J. Tampa (sports hernia surgery), RB Keaton Mitchell (knee)
DOUBTFUL: RB Rasheen Ali (stinger), WR Russell Gage, S Sanoussi Kane (stinger)
QUESTIONABLE: TE Mark Andrews, WR Rashod Bateman (chest/ribs), S Kyle Hamilton (leg), OLB Adisa Isaac (hamstring), CB Trayvon Mullen (shoulder), ILB Josh Ross, WR Devontez Walker, CB Nate Wiggins (shoulder)
Five players to watch Saturday afternoon
ILB Trenton Simpson
The 2023 third-round pick playing 62 snaps last week probably wasn’t the plan as veteran Chris Board sustained a concussion, but Simpson saw just 46 defensive snaps as a rookie with none of them being particularly consequential, meaning he still has much to prove as the weak-side starter next to Roquan Smith. Both Harbaugh and Simpson acknowledged he made some mistakes against Philadelphia last week, so the key is seeing him clean those up and take the next step against the Falcons. That said, there’s so much to like about the athletic young linebacker, who collected a game-high 11 tackles and wore the green-dot helmet to relay the defensive calls. It remains to be seen whether Simpson begins the year as an every-down linebacker like Patrick Queen, but he’s certainly going to be on the field a lot.
WR Deonte Harty
After missing the entire spring program and dealing with a lower leg injury early in camp, Harty hasn’t been on the field much to really show what he can do. Special teams coordinator Chris Horton says he has a good feel for his ability as a return specialist, but you still want to see Harty in some live-game reps, especially adjusting to the new kickoff format. At 5-foot-6 and 170 pounds, Harty isn’t going to be a big part of the offense, but that doesn’t mean he can’t find a place as a contributor with a change-of-pace or gadget play from time to time. The young wide receivers and other return candidates in camp haven’t done enough to think Harty’s job is in serious danger at this point, but availability is paramount and Tylan Wallace and Justice Hill are among the veterans capable of helping out in the return game.
OLB Adisa Isaac
You could copy and paste what was written about David Ojabo last week before learning the third-year pass rusher wasn’t yet cleared by doctors to play in the opener. Instead, we’ll move our focus to Isaac, the third-round rookie who was recovering from a higher-grade hamstring injury throughout the spring and over the early weeks of camp. He’s been practicing for roughly 10 days now, but there’s no guarantee that Isaac will be cleared to play Saturday. Still, this edge group needs viable depth behind Odafe Oweh and Kyle Van Noy, so Ojabo and Isaac need to see as many reps as possible to determine whether they’re going to be early-season factors. The 6-foot-4, 253-pound Isaac was productive at Penn State, but expectations should be tempered for a young player missing so much of the offseason.
TE Qadir Ismail
No one on the 90-man roster has shown more improvement from May until now than Ismail, making him one of the good stories of the summer. After a nondescript collegiate career as a quarterback and wide receiver, Ismail moved to tight end soon after signing with Baltimore and has flashed more as a pass catcher and blocker than the others vying for roster consideration behind Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and Charlie Kolar. What outsiders originally saw as a “happy to be here” situation for the son of Super Bowl XXXV champion Qadry Ismail has evolved into a competing rookie who’s “definitely an NFL player’s and coach’s kid” in Harbaugh’s words earlier this week. For someone who’s shown as much growth as Qadir over the last few months, you’d like to keep him on the practice squad if at all possible.
S Beau Brade
The former Terp still faces a difficult climb to a 53-man roster spot in a deep secondary and is probably a more realistic candidate for the practice squad at this point, but he’s shown the kind of physicality coaches like in special-teams players who are still developing at their offensive or defensive positions. With fellow rookie safety Sanoussi Kane leaving the preseason opener and not practicing all week after suffering a stinger, the 6-foot, 209-pound Brade could be in line to see extensive playing time and would put himself in better position on the roster bubble with a strong showing against Atlanta. Against the Eagles, Brade made a tackle for a loss and forced a fumble on special teams, so he’ll try to show more of the same on Saturday.
