The Baltimore Ravens signed offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James to a two-year contract after he suffered an injury away from the Denver Broncos’ facility and was subsequently cut from the team. It was a smart move by Baltimore, as they secured at least one season of a quality offensive lineman at a low cost.
On Wednesday, head coach John Harbaugh gave an update on the status of James, who was designated to return from injured reserve a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, Harbaugh didn’t have great news, as he said that he isn’t preparing to have him back this year, saying that he thinks the ship has sailed.
“I haven’t talked to [executive vice president and general manager] Eric [DeCosta] about that at all, so I think that ship has sailed, apparently. But that’s not really … That hasn’t been a topic. My position on it was he’ll do the best he can and really make the determination for himself. You’re talking about an Achilles, that’s something that the player has to decide, really, if he feels like he’s ready to go. There hasn’t been any talk along those lines. So, as a coach, we’re not preparing for him to be back. Of course, you could always be pleasantly surprised, but that’s not where we’re going right now, I don’t think.”
There was always a big possibility that James wouldn’t be ready to play at any point during the course of the 2021 season, as an achilles injury is a big deal to come back from. Based off of Harbaugh’s comments, it seems like James won’t be playing this year, but it seems like they are excited about his prospects for 2022.
