One of the Ravens’ most anticipated matchups of the season comes at a time when their two best defensive linemen are ailing.
With AFC-leading rusher Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans coming to town for a rematch of last January’s divisional-round playoff meeting, Baltimore could be without both nose tackle Brandon Williams and defensive end Calais Campbell. With Campbell sidelined on Sunday night and Williams playing only five snaps before exiting with an ankle injury, an undermanned Ravens front allowed 173 yards on 39 carries in the 23-17 loss to New England.
“Calais will be day-to-day here going forward with the calf. We’ll see about this week as we go,” head coach John Harbaugh said on Monday. “Brandon Williams has an ankle. We’ll see as we go — possibly a week, maybe more. It’ll be touch and go for Sunday. That’ll be the last I’ll say about those guys going forward really for a while.”
Of course, it was Henry’s 195 yards rushing in the stunning 28-12 playoff loss to the Titans that further pushed general manager Eric DeCosta to revamp the front seven with a headline move being Campbell’s acquisition from Jacksonville. The 6-foot-3, 247-pound Henry is averaging 4.7 yards per carry and just over 105 rushing yards per game this season.
Veteran defensive lineman Derek Wolfe was a bright spot with seven tackles against the Patriots, but the prospects of backup nose tackle Justin Ellis and rookie Justin Madubuike moving into starting roles against the league’s sixth-ranked rushing attack is concerning for a Ravens team currently trying to hold off Tennessee for the final wild-card spot in the AFC. Baltimore will certainly need a better showing up front to avoid a third loss in four games coming off the Week 7 bye.
“That’s definitely going to be a concern and a factor,” said Harbaugh about a defense at less than full strength facing the Tennessee ground attack. “We’re going to work really hard at that. It’ll be the guys who are healthy that’ll be in there playing. I have full confidence in those guys’ ability to get the job done. That’s a good group, especially the young guys. They’ve done well, and they’ve proven themselves. They’re nine games in now, so they’re not new to this. They understand what they need to do.”
Wolfe played a season-high 84 percent of defensive snaps against the Patriots while Ellis played a season-high 47 snaps, his most in a game since 2017. Madubuike saw a career-high 33 defensive snaps while fellow rookie Broderick Washington added 18.
More offensive line shuffling?
The offensive line will remain a hot-button topic of discussion this week with center Matt Skura’s struggles snapping the football and a shuffled alignment used in the second half of Sunday’s loss.
Errant snaps torpedoed a fourth-and-1 play in the third quarter and led to a 16-yard loss on a first-and-10 play with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The wet conditions were clearly a challenge, but the cut Skura sustained on his right hand in the Indianapolis game apparently wasn’t an issue against the Patriots as some had speculated during the game.
“The hand injury is not a factor,” Harbaugh said. “Are the snaps concerning us? Absolutely, that was very costly in the game. It’s a tough deal. That’s a hard situation, but Matt knows he has to get those snaps back there. Nobody feels worse about it than he does.”
Second-year lineman Patrick Mekari and undrafted rookie Trystan Colon-Castillo are listed behind Skura at center on the team’s depth chart, but Mekari has started each of the last two games at right guard and moved out to right tackle when veteran D.J. Fluker was benched for the second half on Sunday night. That left 2019 fourth-round pick Ben Powers to play right guard.
Harbaugh wouldn’t commit to that new lineup for the Tennessee game as the Ravens will weight their options and lineup possibilities during practices this week.
“I’m probably not going to be talking too much about that this week. There’s really no reason to do that,” Harbaugh said. “But they did a pretty good job. It’s on the tape. We’ll just see what we do. I would just say this — we’re a work in progress right now with the injuries on the offensive line, and we’ll be working on it.”
Moving on from Boyle injury
With plans that were already in motion to work out former Seattle Seahawk Luke Willson even before Nick Boyle suffered a season-ending knee injury on Sunday night, the Ravens are expected to add at least one tight end to the 53-man roster ahead of the Titans game.
Mark Andrews is the only healthy tight end on the active roster, but the Ravens also use fullback Patrick Ricard as a blocking tight end in some heavier formations. Veteran tight ends Sean Culkin and Xavier Grimble are currently on the practice squad.
“We have some plans on that, so we’ll just see as we go,” Harbaugh said. “We have some guys on the practice squad. We had a player in for a workout today as you probably saw. Of course, Pat can take on a bigger role certainly. So, we’ll have a good plan for that.”
Willson appeared in five games with the Seahawks earlier this season and is in his eighth NFL season. He’s caught 110 passes for 1,295 yards and 11 touchdowns in 99 career games.
More pain at cornerback
Harbaugh said reserve cornerback Terrell Bonds will likely miss a couple weeks with the knee injury suffered on the opening drive of the second half.
His exit coupled with Jimmy Smith’s absence due to an ankle injury pushed 37-year-old cornerback Tramon Williams into action after being signed just days earlier. The former Green Bay Packer played 14 defensive snaps and finished with two tackles.
“I thought he did pretty well,” Harbaugh said. “He’s learning as he goes. He’s a veteran, experienced player. Coming in one week like that and to be able to know what he’s doing — he didn’t make any assignment mistakes.”
With both the Titans and Pittsburgh having no shortage of weapons in the passing game, Baltimore’s cornerback depth will be tested to a great degree over these next couple weeks.
