Yesterday during his post practice presser John Harbaugh was asked about the status of Jeremy Zuttah. Earlier in the week Zuttah missed practice and his absence was designated as NIR (“Not Injury Related”). Such designations and missed practices happen regularly with veterans as coaches will often give such vets a day off.
But Zuttah also missed practice yesterday (Friday) and that is unusual. Typically players who miss a Friday practice are a scratch on Sunday.
So the question was asked by 105.7 The Fan’s Jerry Coleman.
Is [Zuttah] out?
“That would be a good question for Jeremy”, Harbaugh cryptically replied.
“But there’s no injury there, as you saw on the injury report. Jeremy is fine.”
Harbaugh said Jeremy Zuttah is not injured. No word on why he didn’t practice.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiecsun) September 23, 2016
The question, the answer and the tweet above from The Sun’s Jeff Zrebeic raised the suspicion of RSR’s Ken McKusick who posted the following in our forums:
Here is a possible interpretation of this announcement:
1. The Ravens were previously on the fence about replacing Zuttah this week, probably more for issues of line communication and Urschel’s health.
2. After watching Jensen (or Urschel) perform on Wednesday and Thursday, they have concluded he’s ready.
3. The coaching staff conferred after practice Thursday and agreed they would make the move to Jensen.
4. They want to tell Zuttah and as a veteran give him the opportunity to process the change with a day off. This also keeps it from being a distraction at practice.
5. They want Jensen to get the practice reps with the walkthrough.
6. Zuttah may or may not be active on game day. If he is inactive, Hurst and Urschel will be the backup linemen.
If this is indeed how it’s going down, I think the move is uncharacteristically fast for the Ravens. I also think it comes with significant continuity risk for the offense, but I trust the staff has taken everything into consideration in making the move.
We’ll find out soon enough but if Ken’s suspicions are correct, and I think they are, the move could significantly impact what the Ravens do on offense.
And clearly it will be something to watch on Sunday.
