OWINGS MILLS, Md. — With the reeling Ravens having pointed to the bye to get healthy and regroup for a couple weeks now, Sunday reinforced that they won’t be free from injuries the rest of the way as they try to climb out of a 1-5 hole.
Star quarterback Lamar Jackson headlines the group of injured players expected to return from injury for the Week 8 meeting with Chicago, but starting outside linebacker Tavius Robinson suffered a fractured foot in the first half of the 17-3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The injury is “very similar” to the one suffered by tight end Isaiah Likely during training camp and is expected to sideline Robinson for six to eight weeks, according to head coach John Harbaugh.
Robinson is tied for the team lead with two sacks this season.
The injury leaves the Ravens very thin at outside linebacker after former first-round pick Odafe Oweh was traded to the Los Angeles Chargers last week. And with 2024 third-round pick Adisa Isaac still at least a month away from returning from an August elbow injury, Baltimore will need to look for an outside addition as the 53-man roster currently consists of only three healthy outside linebackers: Kyle Van Noy, Mike Green, and David Ojabo. Of course, the quality at the position has been up for debate all season as Pro Football Focus did not credit Baltimore edge rushers with any pressures in Sunday’s loss.
Between the lack of production at outside linebacker and the season-ending neck injury suffered by two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike in Week 2, the Ravens’ defensive front has struggled to disrupt opposing quarterbacks all season. Baltimore entered Monday tied for 27th in the NFL in sacks with just eight through six games.
“It’s been a challenge all year to generate pressure, so we are going to have to manufacture pressure,” Harbaugh said. “I think we’ve talked about that the last couple of weeks. But also, our guys are going to have to step up and create pressure on the four-man rush. We do it with simulated pressures too a lot of times. … We have to build off of those things and do the job with the guys that we have.”
Despite seemingly being in the clear after practicing fully last Thursday and Friday and not carrying a game status designation into Sunday’s game, left tackle Ronnie Stanley continues to deal with an all-too-familiar ankle problem that’s prompted two early exits and a missed game in the last three weeks. Stanley suffered a severe left ankle injury midway through the 2020 campaign that required multiple surgeries and cost him the better part of two seasons.
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Stanley was able to start and play in every game last season for the first time in his career, which prompted the Ravens to sign him to a three-year, $60 million contract extension in March. However, issues with the ankle resurfaced in late September as Stanley exited the Week 4 loss in Kansas City after only two drives, sat out the Week 5 blowout defeat to Houston, and couldn’t make it through the first half of Sunday’s loss. Veteran Joseph Noteboom has struggled filling in for Stanley at left tackle as PFF has credited him with surrendering one sack and 14 pressures over the last three games.
“It’s structurally good, or he wouldn’t be out there playing,” said Harbaugh about Stanley’s ankle. “It becomes a matter of his ability to perform on it, and the only person that knows that is the player, so you’ve got to go by that. But he’s fighting to get out there and play. … This is going to be an important week for him, I would think. It’s just a chance for him to maybe get the ankle a little more healed up. And I’ll tell you this — he’s working really hard at it, and he really wants to be out there. I appreciate his effort and his toughness and all those things.”
Despite the return of Patrick Ricard to the practice field last week, Harbaugh was noncommittal about the five-time Pro Bowl fullback making his season debut against the Bears on Oct. 26. Ricard has been dealing with a lingering calf injury since mid-August and experienced a setback last month that delayed his return to the field.
Baltimore’s ground game has clearly missed one of its best blockers.
“It’s just a matter of him being comfortable with his level of strength and his ability to perform,” Harbaugh said. “It’s him being able to get out there and push himself through practice and feel like it’s going to stay healthy, feel like he can move and run, change direction, and power into people. It’s really up to him. The only thing we can do is ask him how he’s doing, how he’s feeling, and if he can push himself to do more or not because it’s his calf. That’s all we can do right now, so I can’t really make any promises.”
While multiple injuries have contributed to the Ravens’ worst start since 2015, Jackson’s return from a Week 4 hamstring injury is their greatest hope for the turnaround that’ll be required to climb back into the playoff race over the second half of the season.
On Sunday, Baltimore fell to 4-11 in games Jackson has missed since the start of the 2019 season.
“If I was on the couch with a psychiatrist right now, if I was spilling it, I would have to say I’m leaning really hard into that — really hard,” Harbaugh said. “For any kind of psychological well-being, spiritual wellbeing, I’m leaning hard on that happening. I’m very hopeful that that happens.”
