Ravens Coach Jesse Minter Strikes Ominous Tone Over Team's Myriad Key Injuries Ahead Of Sunday

The Ravens welcomed a host of injured veterans back for Friday’s final practice of the week after being without receiver Zay Flowers, left tackle Ronnie Stanley, pass rusher Trey Hendrickson and guard John Simpson for most of the workweek. But head coach Jesse Minter made it clear that in many cases their status for Week 2 remains in question.

Minter addressed their many injury concerns after the final practice of the week, with All Pro defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike (neck surgery) and starting linebacker Teddy Buchanan (ACL surgery) remaining limited in practice most of the week in their lengthy returns from season-ending injuries. Last Friday Minter ruled Madubuike out for Week 1, and while he was noncommittal this time around, it’s also fair to expect that a player coming back from that injury would have a full week of practice before returning.

“I feel really good about anybody we have out there – they’ll be ready to play,” Minter said Friday, perhaps ominously.

Minter will coach his first game in Baltimore Sunday against the Saints for a Ravens team that struggled mightily at home at the end of John Harbaugh’s long tenure with the team. He badly wants to make a strong impression and get this team to 2-0, after slow starts were also a problem under late-stage Harbaugh, but he has also proven to be very pragmatic in his approach to many matters.

“Really excited for our fans just to get a chance for the first real home game," Minter said. “It’s our job - we have the control over the product we put on the field, the environment we can help our fans create by playing a certain style of football.”

The control over that product also is in the hands of the Ravens revamped medical team, and while Minter said the staff will spend the next few hours sorting through the medical details, it certainly sounded as if the Ravens will be down at least a few key pieces Sunday.

Conservative Approach

Minter played even fewer veterans in the preseason than Harbaugh does, and he seems intent on taking the long view with many medical matters – as he should this early in the season – with this team’s success judged in the playoffs and not the regular season. So it will be telling how he handles the game-day inactives when we get to Sunday morning.

Like Harbaugh, one of his mentors, Minter is reticent to say much about specific injuries (the official injury report will be released later Friday afternoon).

Just because players are active for a game doesn’t guarantee they will be in their full roles and also doesn’t mean they won’t be limited to some degree within the games as what they can do athletically. The Ravens already placed rookie starting receiver Ja’Kobi Lane (wrist) on Injured Reserve this week, meaning he will miss at least the next four games and that could be where depth corner TJ Tampa ends up as well, as the team evaluates medical options for him but may need roster spots.

Minter declared Tampa out for Sunday and said they’ll “figure out if they need to do anything,” with his active-roster spot.

With the Ravens running the ball so well Week 1 and going with so much heavy personnel, there’s a possibility they recall veteran tight end Nick Vannett for this game from the practice squad. Rookie tight end Matthew Hibner might be needed for some of the work Lane, a big-body receiver, did in the slot. Baltimore’s tight ends don’t offer much in pass protection outside of "Joker" Durham Smythe – and even if they go with an extra lineman as regularly as they did a week ago, more fortification at tight end could be in order (rookie Josh Cuevas played just six snaps last week).

Young tackle Carson Vinson was the extra tackle last week, but he could be counted on to start should Stanley be unavailable.

“His play style is exactly how we want to play,” Minter said.

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