Baltimore Ravens Safety Kyle Hamilton's Status 'Up In The Air' For Sunday
Will the Baltimore Ravens have one of their best defenders back for Sunday Night Football against the Jacksonville Jaguars?
Safety Kyle Hamilton exited early with a sprained MCL in the Ravens' 37-31 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. Hamilton is considered day-to-day and was limited in practice on Wednesday.
The second-year safety noted that he's been improving, though his status against Jacksonville (8-5) hasn't been decided.
"Still unsure," Hamilton said on if he'll play on Sunday. "[It's] up in the air. I went out there today [and] felt pretty good, so we'll go from there."
Ravens (10-3) head coach John Harbaugh said he thought Hamilton looked good in practice and was pleased with what he saw. Harbaugh also echoed what Hamilton said regarding whether he'll play on Sunday.
"I thought he moved pretty good," Harbaugh said. "I was pretty happy to see it. He wasn't a full participant. He was out there for most of the practice [and] did as much as he could. We'll see how he progresses as the week goes on."
Kyle Hamilton had seven tackles, including one for a loss against the Rams.
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The 2022 first-round pick has improved greatly in his second season, already surpassing his totals from his rookie year in interceptions (2), passes defended (9), sacks (3), tackles (69) and tackles for loss (9). He has also stayed on the field, playing in 93 percent of the defense's snaps this year compared to 53 percent in 2022.
Hamilton said he suffered the injury when making a tackle on Rams (6-7) rookie receiver Puka Nacua. Despite multiple attempts to return, he was eventually kept out for the rest of the game.
"My knee kind of bent a weird way, and then I got up [and] came back in the next possession," Hamilton said. "I wasn't even really involved in the play, [and] my knee just kind of felt weird. So, I went down, went into the locker room, taped it up, came back in, tweaked it again, and [the] trainers were giving me advice to just sit it out [and] let the guys go win the game."
As for what will be the deciding factor on whether Hamilton will be good to play on Sunday, that'll depend on his ability to practice and his progression from the knee injury.
"It's just reps," Hamilton said. "It's tough to simulate getting practice reps. You can do as many mental reps as you want, but being out there [and] actually seeing live plays, it's different when getting prepared for a game."
Baltimore faces the Jaguars on Sunday at 8:20 p.m. ET at EverBank Stadium in a battle between teams vying for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
