OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Counting down to a game being hyped as a potential Super Bowl LVIII preview, the Ravens are trying to get healthy on offense ahead of their Christmas night showdown with NFC-leading San Francisco.
Left tackle Ronnie Stanley was back at practice after being evaluated for a concussion in the Sunday night win in Jacksonville, but Baltimore practiced without wide receivers Zay Flowers and Odell Beckham Jr. as well as right tackle Morgan Moses on Wednesday afternoon. The first injury report of the week won’t be released until Thursday since the Ravens and 49ers won’t play until Monday night.
Head coach John Harbaugh said there was “no concern” regarding the Week 16 status of Flowers despite reports that the first-round rookie is dealing with a foot issue. Beckham appeared to be favoring his right heel late in Sunday’s win over the Jaguars with the NBC broadcast later showing him working on his heel while seated on the bench.
Moses hasn’t been included on the injury report over the last month, but he’s still dealing with the effects of a shoulder injury sustained early in the season. The 32-year-old veteran played just 36 of 70 offensive snaps against Jacksonville with second-year tackle Daniel Faalele rotating in and eventually replacing him in the fourth quarter.
“There’s always going to be those things right now. This is December,” Harbaugh said Monday. “There are guys like that who were fighting through things.”
Cornerbacks Ronald Darby and Jalyn Armour-Davis (concussion) also sat out Wednesday’s practice, but free safety Marcus Williams (groin) was present and taking part on a limited basis, which was a great sign after he was injured on the final play of the first half at Jacksonville.
Having lost rookie running back Keaton Mitchell to a season-ending knee injury against the Jaguars, the Ravens promoted veteran Melvin Gordon to the 53-man roster and signed former University of Maryland running back Jake Funk to the practice squad on Tuesday. A two-time Pro Bowl selection with the San Diego and Los Angeles Chargers earlier in his career, Gordon, 30, appeared in two games for Baltimore earlier this season, rushing for 53 yards on 13 carries and catching three passes for 46 yards.
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For the time being, Justice Hill is expected to see the biggest workload increase, but Harbaugh said the ground game won’t change structurally in the wake of Mitchell’s injury.
“Everybody puts their own fingerprint on the play. The play looks the way it does a lot of times because the guys running it,” Harbaugh said. “That’s really the personality of a play. Everybody runs similar plays, but not all of them look the same. The guys running it will put their flair onto it.
“We’re going to miss Keaton. He’s a great player, a great guy, one of the young guys — kind of a revelation. He’ll continue to be that when he comes back, and the other guys will get their chance, and they’ll go get the job done.”
Funk’s arrival wasn’t the only change to the practice squad with Arizona signing rookie tight end Travis Vokolek to its 53-man roster on Wednesday. The Ravens re-signed fullback/tight end Ben Mason to take Vokolek’s place on the practice squad.
