Ravens Shed Some Light on How They'll Try to Prevent More Injuries
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Few teams in the NFL have been plagued with injuries like the Ravens.
As a result, coach John Harbaugh is taking a more hands-on approach to keep his players on the field and out of the training room.
It starts with the way they practice.
"We're going to approach OTAs differently," Harbaugh said at this week's owner meetings. "We're going to approach training camp, some big-picture schedule differently in terms of the way we ramp and in terms of the way we time practices, how long we're on the field and what we're doing on the field and how we pace the rhythm of the practices."
Baltimore finished with 19 players on IR, including several key players such as running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey, safety DeShon Elliott and left tackle Ronnie Stanley. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was limited to 12 games because of an illness and ankle injury.
At the midpoint of last season, the Ravens held the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs. Just over two months later, Baltimore failed to make the playoffs as the injuries continued to accumulate and the team finished 8-9.
Harbaugh does not want a repeat performance.
Baltimore will not hold any joint practices during training camp to help prevent injuries. Last year, defensive lineman Derek Wolfe was injured during the session with the Carolina Panthers and did not appear in a regular-season game.
Furthermore, Harbaugh plans to overhaul the entire practice schedule.
"It'll be a little bit shorter, a little more execution-oriented, less competitive type of practice," Harbaugh said.
The Ravens recently hired Adrian Dixon to take over as the new head athletic trainer.
Dixon has spent the past six seasons (2016-21) working for the Tennessee Titans, most recently serving as the team’s director of physical therapy and sports rehabilitation. He originally joined the Titans as their rehab coordinator/assistant athletic trainer in February of 2016. In his role, he designed and managed the rehabilitation and treatment programs for injured players, also overseeing their progression back onto the field.
“Over the course of the last month, after meeting with multiple qualified candidates, it became quite evident that Adrian possessed all the traits and skills necessary to help us become the best player wellness program in the National Football League," GM Eric DeCosta said. "We were very impressed by Adrian’s servant leadership, his passion for the challenge, and his vision for our training room."
