Zachary Engberg
2 min read • August 04, 2022
Posted in
2021 record: 8-9 | 2022 FanDuel O/U win total: 10.5
The Baltimore Ravens had the unfortunate distinction of being one of the most-mentioned teams on Sports Injury Central during the 2021 NFL season.
The biggest remaining injury concerns on this team come on the offensive side of the ball: Ronnie Stanley’s multiple ankle surgeries and J.K. Dobbins' and Gus Edwards' recovery after significant knee injuries.
The Ravens did well replenishing other spots on the line, bringing in veteran right tackle Morgan Moses and rookie center Tyler Linderbaum, but Stanley’s availability after playing seven games over the last two years will be key to being a dominant offense once again.
Their defensive backfield presents more questions after starting corners Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters each suffered season-ending injuries in 2021. The elite coverage duo will return to a team with two new starting safeties in rookie Kyle Hamilton and free-agent signing Marcus Williams.
Sophomore strong-side stand out Odafeh Oweh is on track to be healthy Week 1 after a Demember foot injury and January shoulder, but the weak-side duo of Tyus Bowser and David Ojabo enter training camp with varying degrees of readiness for Week 1.
The 2019 MVP had the held-together-by-duct-tape Ravens at 8-4 when he went down with a right ankle injury in the second quarter of Week 14.
Despite insistence from John Harbaugh that he “had a chance to play” every week Jackson didn’t step foot on the field again and the Ravens finished 8-9, losing their final five games.
The bone bruise, however, is fully healed and Jackson will have a clean bill of health as camp opens.
The bigger concern from the Pro Football Docs is whether the 25-year-old can continue to log 150 rushing attempts every year and avoid future injuries, a pursuit that Stanley and Dobbins will play a role in.
Since signing a monster 5-year, $98.75 million extension in October 2020, Stanley has played in two games and suffered season-ending left ankle injuries in both of them.
The Pro Football Docs are concerned about his ability to return to an All-Pro level at the blindside after spending much of the last two years rehabbing from a November 2020 ankle dislocation and a subsequent October 2021 ligament repair surgery.
Baltimore has maintained that the 28-year-old will be ready for training camp, but the Docs contend that he won’t be ready to go until Week 1 against the Jets.
His two-thirds SIC score can rise once the Docs can see Stanley show strength and mobility on his left ankle.
Both Dobbins and Edwards were lost before Baltimore’s season began, and both are still months away from being fully recovered, according to the Pro Football Docs.
The first year back from a normal ACL tear, which is the case for Edwards, is always a hard one, not to mention the variable of LCL damage that will extend Dobbins’ rehab timeline.
Okay I’m tired of being quiet… come to me for your source @RapSheet because I might not even go on PUP because that’s how good my rehab is going and I’m damn sure going to be ready for week 1.
From NFL Now: #Ravens RB JK Dobbins is no sure thing for Week 1. He hasn’t had any setbacks. But his knee injury was a serious one, and Baltimore has no incentive to rush him back. They protected themselves with veteran Mike Davis, regardless.
The Pro Football Docs don’t believe that Dobbins or Edwards will be ready to play Week 1 and have tempered expectations for the duo’s season-long production, with Dobbins expected to perform at a 50% rate.
Marcus Peters suffered an ACL tear days before Week 1 and will be more limited in his first year back than his teammates in the offensive backfield, according to the Pro Football Docs, because of the importance of the range-of-motion that a strong ACL brings for that particular position.
In his last full season, the perennial All-Pro corner logged 52 tackles and four interceptions, and it would be fair to expect around half of that production.
Humphrey, who suffered a season-ending torn right pectoral muscle in Week 13, will be healthy and ready to produce at an elite level from the first snap.
The Ravens’ No. 14 overall pick, Kyle Hamilton, will be 10 months removed from the mild MCL injury that ended his 2021 season and has a clean bill of health.
On January 9, 2022, outside linebacker Tyus Bowser suffered a ruptured left Achilles. Three months later, the Ravens drafted another weak-side linebacker, David Ojabo, who suffered a ruptured Achilles on March 18.
Bowser has a chance to play Week 1, according to the Pro Football Docs, but has an equal chance to land on the PUP list when training camp opens and be back Week 4 or 5. If he plays from the start of the season, the Docs say he will be severely limited.
Ojabo faces a greater climb to the field as his injury was months later and he will have to recover physically while intaking Baltimore’s defensive playbook.
Written by Zachary Engberg
