OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens officially listed eight players as questionable to play in Sunday’s meeting with Washington, but two prominent names look to be bigger question marks than others.
Left tackle Ronnie Stanley (shoulder) failed to practice for the second straight day, leaving his availability up in the air against a highly regarded Washington pass rush. The 2019 Pro Bowl selection was a limited participant in what amounted to little more than a walk-through on Wednesday, but head coach John Harbaugh wouldn’t comment on Stanley’s Week 4 status after Friday’s workout.
Baltimore turned to veteran D.J. Fluker when Stanley missed much of the second half of the Week 1 win over Cleveland due to an ankle injury, and the 2013 first-round pick out of Alabama struggled at left tackle, surrendering a sack in 12 pass-blocking snaps and 24 offensive snaps overall. Fluker was originally drafted as an offensive tackle, but he’s spent most of his career at right guard, putting the Ravens in an uneasy position if their All-Pro left tackle doesn’t play.
“He plays both sides at tackle. He plays both guards — a veteran player,” said Harbaugh about Fluker, who signed with the Ravens shortly after April’s draft. “He’s a heck of a football player. He’s done well for us. We’re happy. He has a great attitude, he’s worked so hard, and if he’s called upon, he’ll be ready to go.”
Cornerback Jimmy Smith (knee) is also questionable after missing practice on Friday after being a limited participant each of the previous two days. Friday participation typically serves as a requisite for a player’s availability for that week’s game, but veterans have more leeway in that regard, especially with the Ravens being on a short week after a Monday game.
Wide receiver Chris Moore (finger/thigh) also missed Friday’s practice, and his injury designation now including a thigh issue wouldn’t seem to bode well for the special teams standout making his season debut against Washington.
Defensive end Derek Wolfe (elbow), inside linebacker L.J. Fort (thigh), and defensive back Anthony Levine (abdomen) are also questionable, but all were able to practiced on a limited basis on Friday. Wolfe and Levine didn’t participate in Thursday’s workout.
Rookie defensive tackle Justin Madubuike (knee) and second-year running back Justice Hill (thigh) are once again questionable and in danger of missing their fourth straight game. Hill’s status is more closely tied to his game-day role since he’s practiced fully for the last two weeks.
Meanwhile, the Washington Football Team will be without the second overall pick of the 2020 draft as rookie defensive end Chase Young was officially ruled out with a groin injury suffered in Week 3. Young’s absence had been expected all week, but top wide receiver Terry McLaurin was listed as questionable to play after landing on Thursday’s injury report with a thigh injury and missing Friday’s workout. McLaurin has caught 16 passes for 269 yards and a touchdown this season.
Fellow starting wide receiver Steven Sims Jr. was ruled out with a toe injury, meaning second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins could be without his top two wide receivers against the tough Baltimore secondary.
Asked about the NFL’s announcement of the first Baltimore-Pittsburgh game of the season being rescheduled to Nov. 1 and the Ravens’ bye moving from Week 8 to Week 7 due to Tennessee’s COVID-19 outbreak that forced the postponement of Sunday’s Titans-Steelers game, Harbaugh took the news in stride and noted that “the league has the best interest at heart” with these decisions.
“The need to be flexible — this is the year for that. That’s kind of important every year, but, man, this is the year of flexibility,” Harbaugh said. “And we kind of had that. If you go back to 2008, Houston had a hurricane and we found out on [that] Friday that we weren’t going to play. I think we had a bye day on Saturday and played the rest of the way through, and it worked out well for us.”
Of course, Harbaugh was referencing his first season in Baltimore when the Ravens saw their Week 2 game with the Texans postponed due to Hurricane Ike, leading to them playing 18 consecutive weeks culminating with a loss to Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship game. This time around, the Ravens will have the benefit of coming off their bye week against the Steelers, who will now be tasked with playing 13 consecutive weeks to conclude the regular season.
According to Weather.com, the Sunday forecast for Landover calls for mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the high 60s with winds light and variable and only a slight chance of precipitation.
Below is the final injury report for Week 4:
BALTIMORE
QUESTIONABLE: LB L.J. Fort (thigh), RB Justice Hill (thigh), DB Anthony Levine (abdomen), DT Justin Madubuike (knee), WR Chris Moore (finger/thigh), CB Jimmy Smith (knee), OT Ronnie Stanley (shoulder), DE Derek Wolfe (elbow)
WASHINGTON
OUT: LB Cole Holcomb (knee), RB Bryce Love (knee), WR Steven Sims Jr. (toe), DE Chase Young (groin)
QUESTIONABLE: DE Ryan Anderson (ankle), WR Terry McLaurin (thigh), OT Morgan Moses (hip), LB Kevin Pierre-Louis (illness)
