Ravens weighing options with Woodhead's status

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens haven’t yet decided on the status of running back Danny Woodhead, but they know he’ll be sidelined for an extended period of time.
Head coach John Harbaugh confirmed the 32-year-old will miss at least a month after re-injuring his left hamstring in the first quarter of Sunday’s win at Cincinnati. Woodhead was carted to the locker room after pulling up lame running a pass route on Baltimore’s opening drive.
It’s a frustrating development after the veteran newcomer missed a large portion of training camp with the hamstring issue and had caught three passes in his first regular-season series with the Ravens.
“Danny looks like it is going to be a while,” Harbaugh said. “It’s a hamstring; it’s a little unpredictable. But it is going to be multiple weeks on Danny. We’ll just have to see how Ozzie [Newsome] wants to handle it in terms of the roster and things like that. It is going to take Danny at least four weeks to get back, and we will see where it goes from there.”
The Ravens could elect to place Woodhead on injured reserve with the intention to bring him back later in the season. Such a move would clear a spot on the 53-man roster in his absence and would allow him to begin practicing as soon as six weeks from now should he be designated to return. Woodhead would be permitted to return to game action after eight weeks.
Practice-squad running backs Jeremy Langford and Alex Collins remain candidates to be promoted to the active roster if the Ravens desire another healthy running back for Sunday’s game against Cleveland.
“Those two guys have done a really good job studying the offense,” said Harbaugh, who also didn’t rule out the possibility of adding a back from outside the organization. “They are healthy guys. Those are two very good options for us. We will see by the end of the week where we are at with running back.”
The Ravens received better news on outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith after he was carted to the locker room with what was announced as a left knee sprain early in the second quarter of Sunday’s game. Smith wasn’t present for Wednesday’s practice with what was listed as a knee and ankle injury on the official injury report, but he is not expected to miss significant time.
That comes as a pleasant surprise considering how much he appeared to be hurting when the injury occurred.
“It was a painful one. On the field, I wanted to give him a leather strap and a shot of whiskey just to deal with the pain and to get him off the field,” said Harbaugh, drawing laughter from reporters. “But he came through OK. I don’t know if he’ll be up for this week, but he’ll have a chance next week.”
In addition to Woodhead and Smith, safety Eric Weddle did not participate in Wednesday’s practice. He was officially listed as having an illness on Wednesday, but he did miss the final play of Sunday’s game after taking a low hit to the left leg area. Weddle spoke to reporters after the game and was in good spirits, leading one to believe he hadn’t suffered any kind of serious injury.
Cornerbacks Jaylen Hill (thigh) and Sheldon Price (concussion) remained absent from practice after sitting out the season opener.
The Browns were without defensive lineman Myles Garrett (ankle) and offensive linemen Joe Thomas (knee) and Kevin Zeitler (thumb). Garrett, the first overall pick of the 2017 draft, is unlikely to suit up, but Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson said Zeitler will play despite undergoing a procedure on his thumb.
A 10-time Pro Bowl left tackle, Thomas is four snaps shy of 10,000 consecutive in his future Hall of Fame career. In other words, there’s no doubt about his status for Sunday as the team frequently rests him during the practice week.
Below is Wednesday’s full injury report:
BALTIMORE
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: CB Jaylen Hill (thigh), CB Sheldon Price (concussion), LB Za’Darius Smith (knee, ankle), S Eric Weddle (illness), RB Danny Woodhead (thigh)
CLEVELAND
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: DL Myles Garrett (ankle), OL Joe Thomas (knee), OL Kevin Zeitler (thumb)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: DL Danny Shelton (knee)
FULL PARTICIPATION: DL Caleb Brantley (finger), WR Kenny Britt (knee), RB Duke Johnson (chest), TE Randall Telfer (knee)