The Baltimore Ravens 2019 training camp comes to a close today. While the Ravens still have three more preseason games on the docket and a 53-man roster to figure out, they’ll officially enter a regular-season practice schedule until Week 1. But they’ll wrap up training camp without quite a few of their players.
On the final day of training camp, the Ravens had 11 players sitting out of practice.
It’s been a major concern for Baltimore over the last few years and it’s tough to see so many impact players sitting out of practice. In fact, we pointed to the Ravens’ injury bug as a curse they’ll need to reverse this season if they want to make a strong postseason run.
While seeing any players miss practice is never ideal, for Baltimore it’ll provide valuable reps for some to make a case for staying on the roster.
With players like cornerback Jimmy Smith and Anthony Averett not practicing, others like Maurice Canady, Stanley Jean-Baptiste, Cyrus Jones and Justin Bethel will get more time to make an impression for what is likely the last spot on the depth chart. The same is the case at outside linebacker where Matthew Judon and Pernell McPhee are missing Tuesday’s practice, giving players like Shane Ray a chance to step up.
The biggest sigh of relief comes with the return of wide receiver Marquise Brown. Brown was absent on Monday after finally fully participating in practice on Sunday. Brown had been recovering from a Lisfranc injury that required surgery before the 2019 NFL draft to repair, making any absence from practice a major concern.
We’ll likely find out the extent of any major injuries but at this stage of training camp, Baltimore could just be cautious with any dings and bruises. Given the extent of their injury issues over the last five years, keeping players as healthy as possible by having them miss a few practices might not be the worst idea.
