BALTIMORE — The Ravens aim to move a step closer to the playoffs in welcoming the Jacksonville Jaguars to Baltimore for Week 15.
Baltimore is assured of a postseason berth with three straight wins to conclude the regular season, and the 2-11 Jaguars wouldn’t figure to offer much resistance, especially with this week’s news of starting running back Denard Robinson being out for the rest of the season with a sprained foot. Veteran Toby Gerhart will start in Robinson’s place and has averaged just 2.9 yards per carry this season.
Despite doubts earlier in the week about the availability of Torrey Smith after he was limited to just 15 snaps in last Sunday’s win over Miami, the fourth-year wide receiver is active and will start, continuing his streak of never missing a game in his NFL career — or his collegiate run at the University of Maryland. Smith suffered a sprained right knee in the loss to San Diego two weeks ago, but he appeared to be moving well in pre-game warmups.
As expected, rookie running back Lorenzo Taliaferro was deactivated after missing practices all week with a sprained foot. The Ravens promoted rookie free agent Fitz Toussaint from the practice squad Saturday to give them a third healthy running back for Week 15. Taliaferro’s absence likely means a heavier workload for veteran backup Bernard Pierce, who rushed for 50 yards in the fourth quarter against the Dolphins last week.
After being signed earlier this week, veteran cornerback Antoine Cason is inactive as the Ravens elected to activate young cornerback Rashaan Melvin instead. Baltimore lost veteran cornerback Danny Gorrer to a season-ending knee injury last week in Miami, but Asa Jackson is once again expected to start opposite veteran Lardarius Webb at cornerback.
Rookie tight end Crockett Gillmore is active for Sunday’s game despite being limited with a back injury most of the week. It’s worth noting that No. 3 tight end Phillip Supernaw is also active in case Gillmore’s back is an issue.
Neither Terrence Cody nor DeAngelo Tyson were activated for Sunday’s game, which shows how much confidence the Ravens have in rookie Timmy Jernigan filling in for the suspended Haloti Ngata. Veteran Lawrence Guy will serve as a primary backup in the defensive line rotation.
Despite not being listed on the injury report this week, rookie wide receiver Michael Campanaro is once again inactive and hasn’t played in a game since injuring his hamstring against Cincinnati on Oct. 26. Joining Campanaro among the healthy inactives is second-year linebacker Arthur Brown as he’s only been active three times all season.
Rookie safety Terrence Brooks is active after not playing against the Dolphins last week.
The Ravens will be playing the Jaguars for the 18th time in franchise history and own a 7-10 record against their old AFC Central foe. The Jaguars won the last meeting between the teams, a 12-7 final in Jacksonville on Oct. 24, 2011. Jacksonville still seeks its first road win of the year while Baltimore looks to improve to 5-2 at M&T Bank Stadium.
Sunday’s forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies with temperatures reaching 50 degrees and winds up to 11 miles per hour.
The referee for Sunday’s game will be Tony Corrente.
The Ravens will be wearing purple jerseys with black pants while Jacksonville dons its white tops with black pants.
Below are Sunday’s inactives:
BALTIMORE
WR Michael Campanaro
CB Antoine Cason
RB Lorenzo Taliaferro
LB Arthur Brown
DT Terrence Cody
OL Gino Gradkowski
DL DeAngelo Tyson
JACKSONVILLE
RB Denard Robinson
CB Teddy Williams
CB Jeremy Harris
LB A.J. Edds
LB Khairi Fortt
G Tyler Shatley
DE Andre Branch
