The Baltimore Ravens’ offensive line has been a little off the mark through the first quarter of this season. So when left tackle Ronnie Stanley was ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Washington Football Team with a shoulder injury, plenty of people were rightfully concerned.
Luckily, Stanley’s injury doesn’t appear to be very serious according to coach John Harbaugh, who said the Pro Bowl tackle nearly played.
“Ronnie has an issue, an upper-body issue. It’s more of a strain than anything. He was really close to going. We thought maybe he’d be able to go. We actually thought he would be able to go, but those things are dicey sometimes. He just wasn’t able to do it, and he tried.”
To deal with Stanley’s absence, Baltimore moved right tackle Orlando Brown Jr. to the left side and replaced him with D.J. Fluker. While the end result was a little lackluster, they held their own against a talented Washington defensive front. In total, the Ravens’ offensive line allowed just three quarterback hits and one sack, while paving the way to 144 rushing yards and a 4.5 yards-per-carry average on the day.
Baltimore will have a far easier opponent in Week 5 when they host the Cincinnati Bengals. Where Washington had the third-highest sack percentage, Cincinnati comes in at a far less impressive 19th. The Ravens could also have Stanley back in the lineup, something Harbaugh was optimistic about following Sunday’s game.
