After a short week — and a win — Ravens head into ‘mini bye’ with injuries and optimism
That was always the risk of the Ravens’ short-week game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: With just four days to recover from Sunday’ s win over the Cleveland Browns, they’ d have to play through some pain, maybe even subject themselves to more on a humid night in Tampa, Florida.“ I was like, whatever I can do,” said Humphrey, who got his hamstring wrapped and missed 17...
When Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey headed to the locker room just before halftime Thursday night, tending to a minor hamstring injury, he didn’t like what he saw.
“I came in and I was like, ‘Crap, this guy is in here, this guy is in there,’” he recalled. Tight end Mark Andrews had left in the second quarter with a minor shoulder injury. Wide receiver Rashod Bateman had aggravated a foot injury in the first half. Even cornerback Daryl Worley, a special teams contributor, had jogged off the field early, too.
That was always the risk of the Ravens’ short-week game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: With just four days to recover from Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns, they’d have to play through some pain, maybe even subject themselves to more on a humid night in Tampa, Florida. “I was like, whatever I can do,” said Humphrey, who got his hamstring wrapped and missed 17 defensive snaps overall.
But the Ravens knew the potential rewards of a short week, too. After a 27-22 win over the Buccaneers that secured their first winning streak of the season and another week atop the AFC North, they don’t play until Nov. 7, a “Monday Night Football” matchup against the New Orleans Saints. Then comes a bye week. By the time the Ravens return to M&T Bank Stadium on Nov. 20 for a Week 11 game against the Carolina Panthers, they’ll have played just one game in a 23-day span.
”I think it’s big,” outside linebacker Justin Houston said. “I think we had a lot of guys go down tonight and in the previous two games, so we look beat up. So I think this mini bye is going to help us get everybody back together and let us rest and recover for that game [against New Orleans].”
After enduring one of the most injury-marred years in recent NFL history, the Ravens have taken things slow with some players, mindful of the long season ahead.
Running back Gus Edwards, who left in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury that Harbaugh indicated is minor, played just 16 offensive snaps, still limited in practice by his surgically repaired knee. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley, ramping up his workload after a pair of season-ending ankle injuries, played 61 of 76 offensive snaps. Running back Justice Hill, who dealt with a hamstring injury earlier this season, got 16 snaps. Houston, sidelined for three weeks by a groin strain, played 24 of the defense’s 68 snaps.
But in their second half against a Tampa Bay team that came into Thursday’s game banged up and left the loss with even more injuries, the Ravens had the sharper edge. They outscored the Buccaneers 24-12 and outgained them 297-197 after halftime.
“I’m really proud of the guys because at the end of the game, our guys just had a little bit more left,” coach John Harbaugh said. “You could see it in terms of the execution.”
Said right tackle Morgan Moses: “It’s a short week of preparation, it’s a dogfight out there, and it’s really just, who’s going to last longer?”
The Ravens did. That wasn’t lost on quarterback Lamar Jackson. After another day of aches, pains and trips to the team’s medical tent, the Ravens could relax, if only for a few days.
“It feels wonderful,” he said.
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