There was no shortage of fallout for the Ravens after a disappointing 2025 that resulted in the firing of longtime head coach John Harbaugh and most of his staff.
But injuries certainly played a part, especially when evaluating the miserable 1-5 start from which Baltimore (8-9) couldn’t fully recover. “Next man up” sounds great until you’re talking about being without two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson for multiple weeks or Pro Bowl defensive players at different points.
The best organizations in sports should always be looking for an edge when it comes to player performance and health, and there’s no salary cap for exploring such advantages. That’s why it was interesting to see the Ravens hire Dr. Nic Gill — formerly of the decorated New Zealand All Blacks rugby team — as their new vice president of health and performance earlier this week.
So, just how injured were the Ravens in 2025?
For squad-by-squad comparisons, we frequently see the number of players on injured reserve mentioned, but that doesn’t really provide a complete picture. How many injuries were to starters and important reserves compared to bottom-of-the-roster backups or training camp bodies who never had a real chance of making the team? How many went on IR early in the campaign compared to the final few weeks? And what about individuals playing through ailments compared to teams that featured cleaner weekly injury reports?
Courtesy of Aaron Schatz of FTN Network (and formerly Football Outsiders), a metric called adjusted games lost attempts to quantify the degree to which teams were hindered by injuries. Instead of merely counting the games lost for each player on IR, the number weighs the role for each injured player — starter, key reserve, bench-warmer, etc. — and also accounts for those listed on the weekly injury reports and playing through ailments. In other words, the metric doesn’t weigh the loss of an All-Pro talent or reliable starter the same as a long shot placed on IR at the end of the summer and also accounts for those playing through injuries at less than 100%.
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Using that metric, the Ravens finished in the middle of the pack with the 15th-most adjusted games lost with most of that damage coming on the defensive side of the ball. The list of defensive absences was headlined by two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, who missed the final 15 games with a neck injury that’s left his football future in question.
Of course, the injuries suffered on offense were very costly with Jackson missing four games — and substantial parts of two others — and being on the weekly injury report for a variety of ailments from mid-November through Week 18.
One of the most underrated disappointments of falling short in 2024 was the fact that the Ravens were the healthiest team in the NFL when using the same adjusted games lost metric. It was always going to be difficult for Baltimore to repeat such injury fortune, and even an average year from an injury perspective proved to be costly.
Seven of the 10 teams with the fewest adjusted games lost in 2025 made the playoffs — including both Super Bowl squads — while seven of the 10 with the most missed the postseason. Yes, good teams are still expected to be able to overcome some level of injury adversity, but availability and optimal performance remain critical to success in the long run, especially in a sport with a salary cap. That’s why the Ravens hope the outside-the-box hiring made earlier this week will pay some dividends.
Below is a look at where the Ravens have finished in adjusted games lost over the years:
2025 — 78.7 (15th most in NFL)
2024 — 16.3 (fewest in NFL)
2023 — 71.3 (14th most in NFL)
2022 — 102.6 (eighth most in NFL)
2021 — 191.2 (most in NFL)
2020 — 59.6 (eighth fewest in NFL)
2019 — 68.7 (16th fewest in NFL)
2018 — 29.7 (fewest in NFL)
2017 — 101.6 (sixth most in NFL)
2016 — 62.0 (11th fewest in NFL)
2015 — 96.1 (third most in NFL)
2014 — 52.6 (seventh fewest in NFL)
2013 — 49.8 (ninth fewest in NFL)
2012 — 57.4 (13th fewest in NFL)
2011 — 18.8 (fewest in NFL)
2010 — 50.9 (15th fewest in NFL)
2009 — 28.8 (seventh fewest in NFL)
2008 — 95.0 (third most in NFL)
