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BALTIMORE — The Ravens came away with a 14-6 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, but with it came a new list of health concerns topped by the status of running back Ray Rice.
Rice went down with a left hip injury in the fourth quarter on a non-contact play and was immediately taken to the locker room where he was diagnosed with a hip flexor strain, according to coach John Harbaugh. Backup Bernard Pierce handled the workload the rest of the way to help the Ravens improve to 1-1 on the season.
Baltimore was optimistic after the game about Rice, who wasn’t scheduled to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging as of Sunday afternoon. However, it had to be a scary scene for Harbaugh and the Ravens to see one of their best offensive players go down in pain without being touched.
“I don’t have the ‘scary gauge’ on me right now,” said Harbaugh when asked to express how he felt upon seeing the injury occur. “He might’ve gone down to protect himself, too. That’s just something that we’ll have to see. We’re confident and optimistic right now. We’ll have to see tomorrow how he responds to that.”
The Ravens also suffered several injuries on the defensive side of the ball as linebacker Arthur Brown (pectoral strain) and cornerback Chykie Brown (knee strain) both left the game with injuries and are each expected to undergo an MRI on Monday. There was some fear in the post-game locker room that the second-round linebacker’s pectoral injury could be significant, but Harbaugh expressed optimism that Chykie Brown’s knee injury didn’t appear to be serious.
Defensive end Chris Canty left the game after the opening series of the second half with a groin injury and didn’t return as he received treatment on the bench but wasn’t taken to the locker room at any point.
Cornerback Jimmy Smith had his helmet knocked off after a violent collision with safety James Ihedigbo in the second half and was taken to the locker room for a concussion evaluation but returned to action soon thereafter. The 2011 first-round pick also started at corner over Corey Graham in the base defense, which was a change from Week 1.
“Jimmy has been practicing really well,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a really good player.”
