Hello everyone, and happy Wednesday morning to you all. The turnaround is quick this week, as the Ravens now have to prepare for a Saturday Afternoon game against the Browns.
One of the biggest question marks about this game is who will be under center for the Ravens as they travel to Cleveland.
We got some encouraging news on Tuesday.
Ravens QB Tyler Huntley (concussion) was back at practice today. Good sign for his availability Saturday as he progresses through the protocol. pic.twitter.com/0c6amyuHQw
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) December 13, 2022
Tyler Huntley was practicing (in a walk-through) on Tuesday despite still being in concussion protocol. On normal short weeks, If a player enters the protocol, they would not be eligible to play in the next game due to the NFL’s new rules, but this might not be the case. Since the game is on Saturday and not Thursday, there is still a chance Huntley can pass the protocol and play on Saturday. His availability could make a huge difference.
Speaking of injuries, here’s the rest of the walk-through report:
We held a walk-through, so the practice report is an estimation. pic.twitter.com/2eBNEBrKjc
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 13, 2022
While this is a bit misleading because it is a walk-through, the only player who didn’t practice and didn’t have a rest day or Illness was Lamar Jackson. It is seriously refreshing to have a mostly non-stressful Injury Report, though. This also hints that Kevin Zeitler might be available on Saturday, though his replacements were outstanding in Pittsburgh:
Tale of the Tape: Impressive Showings from Colon & Cleveland
While Lamar is down, the Ravens will have to rely on the defense going forward and need plays from them every game. They need someone on the offense to step up as well, but the defense has to continue making plays.
Luckily a player they just got back will help with that.
Mitch Trubisky didn't think Marcus Williams had THAT much range.
Also, there's a 0% chance Williams could have stopped short of the end zone. That touchback/INT rule is silly. pic.twitter.com/EPVqCvCmAh
— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) December 13, 2022
It’s so refreshing to have Marcus Williams out there again. Not to say that Geno Stone wasn’t playing well in his absence, but he had a bad few weeks in a row, and they needed Williams back. Plays like this are not getting made by backup-caliber safeties. Only two or three safeties in the league are making this play, and the Ravens have one of them. Truly special.
As for the Browns, the spotlight is on Deshaun Watson. He came back two weeks ago and just hasn’t been good.
This was on full display against the Bengals.
Deshaun Watson has not played well yet. He fails to execute this common "Dagger" concept twice. Timing/processing is still off.
It's a very simple read, but Late Eyes have been a theme throughout his return. The first time doesn't hurt, the second time kills his team. pic.twitter.com/N2OnmFlC5o
— JetPack Galileo (@JetPackGalileo) December 13, 2022
He just isn’t processing anything on the field right now. If this defense tackles well on Saturday, this could get ugly for the Browns.
Cleveland is also going through some injuries as well.
The #Browns have placed LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (foot) on injured reserve.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 13, 2022
JOK made some nice plays the last time the Ravens played the Browns, so this is a huge loss.
Overall though, the formula for winning this game is the same as last week: run the ball, force mistakes on defense, and capitalize off them.
We look forward to Saturday to see if the Ravens can get another tough win on the road against an AFC North Opponent.