The starting left tackle left the game in the fourth quarter of a 30-10 defeat against the New York Giants and didn’t return.
"We’re hopeful," said Ravens coach John Harbaugh on Monday while awaiting the results of Gaither’s magnetic resonance imaging exam. "We think it’s going to be touch and go."
Gaither was relegated to blocking with one arm during the game.
"Jared just did a tremendous job on all those guys rushing on the left side," Harbaugh said. "He basically was going with one arm for a while and he was pass-protecting with one arm."
Gaither’s potential unavailability could be a big problem. The Eagles recorded eight sacks in a tie with the Cincinnati Bengals.
If Gaither is out, the Ravens could shift right tackle Adam Terry over to the left side. Terry is hobbled slightly with a sprained right ankle, but returned to action after leaving for a portion of the second half.
He hasn’t started at left tackle since October 2007.
"Adam will be OK," Harbaugh said. "He’s fighting through different things, but he’s going to be fine. He’s a tough guy."
If the Ravens are forced to shift Terry, then that creates uncertainty at right tackle where Willie Anderson had started five consecutive games before being held out Sunday with a sprained right ankle.
Harbaugh said there’s a chance Anderson could return to the lineup against Philadelphia.
"It didn’t hurt him at all not playing in the game," Harbaugh said. "The biggest thing we were concerned about was a setback in this game. So, he has a chance to come back."
"With those young guys in there, it was a little bit different," Harbaugh said. "Our backs chipped their way out a little bit more, but we couldn’t change. We had to throw, and they did OK."
Meanwhile, Harbaugh didn’t seem concerned about running back Willis McGahee’s sprained ankle.
BLOCKED REDUX: One day after kicker Matt Stover’s 32-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Giants defensive tackle Fred Robbins, Harbaugh ascribed the breakdown to the penetration up front in addition to Stover’s trajectory.
"There was a little bit of push inside, and that’s unacceptable," he said. "We try to stonewall them up in there, but a lot of times you get push and you kick it right over that.
"Sometimes, you kick it low and there’s no push and the ball gets through. Sometimes, you get push and you kick it high and it doesn’t matter. This time, they got a little push and the ball was kicked low and they got it."
AFFIRMED: Harbaugh agreed with the officials overturning cornerback Samari Rolle’s interception following an instant-replay challenge from Giants coach Tom Coughlin. They determined that he didn’t have control of the football when he landed on the ground and the ball spilled out.
"The way the rule reads, and they called it right, you have to finish the catch," Harbaugh said. "So, when you hit the ground you’ve got to basically finish the catch on the ground.
"He was down by contact with the ball, but when he rolled over the ball kind of popped out. You could all see it. So, they ruled it correctly, we thought."
UNCLEAR: The Ravens considered challenging whether a Giants player touched a Sam Koch punt before it was downed by linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo in the fourth quarter at the New York 21-yard line.
However, they never got a conclusive replay to gauge their chances.
"You couldn’t tell," Harbaugh said. "Of course, the Giants were ungracious enough not to show it on the big screen. The funny thing was TV didn’t show it. All we saw was the live copy. Our players coming off the field were pretty adamant that it didn’t hit anybody.
"Tom Zbikowski, who did a great job of knocking their guy into the ball, couldn’t tell. So, I just didn’t feel like being behind at that time it wasn’t worth giving up a timeout. We went back and saw it this morning and you couldn’t tell, so we obviously wouldn’t have gotten the ball."
QUICK HITS: Harbaugh acknowledged concern about the Ravens committing 10 penalties against New York. It was one less than their season-high against the Tennessee Titans. "I don’t think it really, really was the difference in the game, but it was a factor in the game," he said. "The pre-snap penalties, whether it’s jumping offsides on defense, whether it’s moving on offense, those are things that we can control and we need to eliminate. That’s something we’ve got to do a better job with, no doubt." … Stover is now the NFL’s all-time record holder with 372 consecutive extra points made, a streak that dates back to 1996. "Pretty amazing," Harbaugh said. "We all play golf, and maybe those are three-foot putts. Well, how many three-foot putts has he made under pressure now? That’s a lot of putts without missing one."
