It has been a down week in terms of vibes in the Flock. This isn’t surprising, when we combine the disappointment of last week’s game with the Ravens having to face the equivalent of going into the Lion’s den while playing the Browns this week (as odd as that sounds).
No doubt the vibes have been off, but we got some good news from practice, at least.
RB Justice Hill (toe) and S Kyle Hamilton (back) were practicing today
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 28, 2023
Finally! Getting some good news on some of these injuries feels nice. Going into this game against the Browns without these two would have been a nightmare scenario. Getting Hill back is underrated because it takes someone like Melvin Gordon or Kenyan Drake out of the RB rotation, which is good. After all, you could argue that Drake gave the Colts the game last Sunday, or at least completely halted what was looking like a Ravens blowout to that point.
That wasn’t the only good news, as Marcus Williams was upgraded from partial to full participation on Thursday.
Williams practicing in full is a really good sign for Ravens after there was some concern that they may have lost him for the season with his Week One pectoral injury https://t.co/9j5jyQ8WSU
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 28, 2023
To be fair, the reporting on Williams’ injury was always weird to me. Some reports said he had a torn pec, but others said he could move his shoulder, which shouldn’t have been possible if the former was accurate. So, it is possible that Williams never had a “torn pec” in the first place. Still, to come back this fast is something I don’t know I’ve ever seen before. Going from a potentially season-ending injury to playing three weeks later? That is a crazy turnaround.
Of course, it can never be JUST good news when it comes to our Ravens and injuries.
Not practicing: WR Odell Beckham Jr. (ankle), WR Rashod Bateman (hamstring), CB Marlon Humphrey (foot), OLB Odafe Oweh (ankle) and OLB David Ojabo (ankle/knee).
And the two who returned to practice: RB Justice Hill (toe/foot) and S Kyle Hamilton (back).— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 28, 2023
The Ravens will have to go into a tough division game without OBJ, Bateman, Oweh, and Ojabo. They might also be without Stanley and Linderbaum, and they still haven’t gotten Marlo out to the field yet. No matter how much good news we get, it can’t hide that this team is still extremely shorthanded, and these guys aren’t coming back in big groups either.
So, how do we generate a pass rush with this defensive line? We do it the same way Mike Macdonald always does it, by blitzing the crap out of his opponents.
They're going to blitz like they always do.
Why are we acting like we're new to not being able to produce a 4 man rush? Lol#RavensFlock https://t.co/uFwvm691K3
— Cole Jackson (@ColeJacksonFB) September 28, 2023
Macdonald better be in his bag on Sunday, and I hope he can find a way to generate some pressure. Especially if Williams can play on Sunday, the coverage will be better, and Watson is having trouble reading defenses so far this year.
Prepare yourself for another sloppy, disgusting game on Sunday, but it won’t be due to weather this time. With these two defenses clashing, plus the Ravens being so shorthanded on offense (not to mention Cleveland being without Nick Chubb), this one isn’t going to generate too much excitement in the fantasy football world.
3 Responses
So Oweh and Ojabo are out. So what? We can always pick up a couple pass rusher or two from other team’s cuts like we do every year to more than compensate. What’s the over/under that Owejabo don’t get 7 sacks between them this year? I think the real betting odds are which one goes on season ending IR first. I’ll keep track, you don’t have to. I would let Harbaugh keep score but he is still busy working on his time management skills after 15 years.
A steep learning curve.
“Some reports said he had a torn pec, but others said he could move his shoulder, which shouldn’t have been possible if the former was accurate.” –
That ain’t necessarily so, depends on where it tears and how badly. Still going to put you on the bench for a while whether you can cautiously move your ‘shoulder’ or not . . .