John Harbaugh is facing a lot of unknowns heading into the regular-season opener against the New York Jets.
He doesn’t know if left tackle Ronnie Stanley, running back J.K. Dobbins or cornerback Marcus Peters will be able to play after suffering season-ending injuries last year.
Harbaugh also didn’t play most of his regular starters, such as quarterback Lamar Jackson, cornerback Marlon Humphrey, right tackle Morgan Moses and safety Marcus Williams, during the preseason games.
The practice schedule was altered with later start times so the players could get their nutrition before activities.
Harbaugh is uncertain how all of these changes will translate onto the field on Sept. 11 at MetLife Stadium.
“You just never know what leads to anything,” he said. “You never know what’s to blame for sure, and you never know what’s to blame for sure. To be honest with you, I get on my knees every night and I thank God, in all honesty, that we’re in a good place that way, and I pray for the next day to be good. But you also want your guys to have a good practice, and to be sharp, and be on point and be ready to go compete at the highest level. So, all of that is just kind of unknown.”
Prediction time!
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— Russell St. Report (@RussellStReport) September 6, 2022
The Ravens get off to a slow start against the Jets. Harbaugh believed he had no choice but to make drastic changes to keep his players healthy after finishing last season with 19 players on IR.
With the exception of the players who were injured last year, the Ravens emerged from training camp fully healthy. The only exception was a season-ending Achilles injury to linebacker Vince Biegel, who was battling for a roster spot.
“It feels different,” Harbaugh said. “Sure, we’ve never done it before here. We’ve always played with our guys. We haven’t played them as much as Andy [Reid] and Coach [Bill] Belichick do, but we’ve played them more in that world. We’ve been more in that world in the past; we’ve played our guys to some degree.
“So, this is the first time we haven’t played the starters really at all, except for the guys who were younger or we felt needed it. So, we’ll find out. It’s new.”
The Ravens want to be healthy in late November and December for a possible playoff push and an AFC North crown.
The Ravens tried to simulate game situations in practice, The regular starters made sure they treated their practice reps like game situations.
It certainly wasn’t the same but the players are confident they will be ready for the opener.
“It is a little different, but I’ve made sure [on] some of those pad days to come out and act like it was a game – so being extra physical, running my routes like it was a game – and that’s a switch that you can turn on,” tight end Mark Andrews said. “There were some days I came out here and turned the switch on and felt good. So, I feel ready.”
