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The Ravens are not expecting Samari Rolle to play for the remainder of the season.
The veteran cornerback has been on the physically-unable-to-perform list with a neck injury since the preseason, and there was some hope Rolle, 33, would be activated and return as the defense's nickel back or even a starting cornerback.
But coach John Harbaugh said during his weekly media briefing Monday that the hope had dimmed.
"I can't speak for Samari in that sense, but I would say right now based on what the medical people are saying, I'm not very optimistic at all that he'll be able to play this year," Harbaugh said. "He had the surgery, and you just don't want to mess around with the neck. Samari's too important to us as a person to even think about that. That's not the advice we're getting medically. So that's probably where that stands."
Rolle, who hasn't played since the AFC divisional playoff win over the Tennessee Titans on Jan. 10, underwent surgery in the offseason to repair a bulging disc in his neck. He had another procedure on the neck several weeks ago.
Rolle could have reinvigorated a pass defense that ranks 22nd in the NFL in average yards allowed (241.5) and is tied for 22nd in passing touchdowns surrendered (nine).
Harbaugh was on the opposite end of the spectrum regarding offensive tackle Jared Gaither, who has missed the past two contests with a neck injury suffered against the New England Patriots on Oct. 4.
"He was close," the coach said. "We'll see. You can't speak to a neck, so I don't want to sit here and say he's going to definitely play against Denver [on Nov. 1]. But we would expect him to play against Denver."
Quarterback Joe Flacco said someone stepped on his left foot, causing him to roll his right ankle in the first quarter of Sunday's 33-31 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. But Flacco insisted he is fine.
"It's not a big deal," he said. "I'm walking pretty good today and running and stuff."
"The snap was not perfect. The kick was not perfect. So it didn't go through," Harbaugh said. "We all try to do as good a job as we can to help our kicker make a kick. And the thing you've got to remember about that is we knew from Day One that our young kicker was going to miss a kick. And we were also pretty sure that it was going to come during a hugely critical moment. And there's no guarantee that any kicker is going to make any kick in any situation. And it's painful. Because if he had knocked that thing through the uprights, we'd all be going, 'We've got our kicker!' Well, we believe we've got our kicker. We've seen enough of him to believe that he's going to be our kicker. In the end, do we know? Only he can handle that, and he gets a little help from his holder and his snapper and his protection and his coach, and we see where it goes from there. That's the best we can do. We've got a lot of confidence in him. He's talented, he's a great kid, he works hard. Let's see what happens."
"I've had any number of conversations with any number of teams," Newsome told The Baltimore Sun on Monday. "At this point, it can go either way."
The Ravens have been linked to wide receivers Dwayne Bowe, Joey Galloway and Terrell Owens, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2004 and 2005 when Harbaugh was the special teams coordinator.
Asked to comment about his perspective on Owens, Harbaugh briefly debated speaking about a player on another team.
"All I can say about T.O. is this - I'm going to jump out on a limb here - I've got a lot of respect for T.O., OK? Always have," Harbaugh said. "He's a football player, he practices hard. I think he's got a really good heart, always have. We have a good relationship. Now is anything happening there? Not that I know of. And I think I would know if something was happening."
On Monday, Allen offered a rebuttal.
"Well, that's just some idiot trying to talk himself up," Allen said per ProFootballTalk.com.
Baltimore Sun reporter Jamison Hensley contributed to this article.
The veteran cornerback has been on the physically-unable-to-perform list with a neck injury since the preseason, and there was some hope Rolle, 33, would be activated and return as the defense's nickel back or even a starting cornerback.
But coach John Harbaugh said during his weekly media briefing Monday that the hope had dimmed.
"I can't speak for Samari in that sense, but I would say right now based on what the medical people are saying, I'm not very optimistic at all that he'll be able to play this year," Harbaugh said. "He had the surgery, and you just don't want to mess around with the neck. Samari's too important to us as a person to even think about that. That's not the advice we're getting medically. So that's probably where that stands."
Rolle, who hasn't played since the AFC divisional playoff win over the Tennessee Titans on Jan. 10, underwent surgery in the offseason to repair a bulging disc in his neck. He had another procedure on the neck several weeks ago.
Rolle could have reinvigorated a pass defense that ranks 22nd in the NFL in average yards allowed (241.5) and is tied for 22nd in passing touchdowns surrendered (nine).
Harbaugh was on the opposite end of the spectrum regarding offensive tackle Jared Gaither, who has missed the past two contests with a neck injury suffered against the New England Patriots on Oct. 4.
"He was close," the coach said. "We'll see. You can't speak to a neck, so I don't want to sit here and say he's going to definitely play against Denver [on Nov. 1]. But we would expect him to play against Denver."
Quarterback Joe Flacco said someone stepped on his left foot, causing him to roll his right ankle in the first quarter of Sunday's 33-31 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. But Flacco insisted he is fine.
"It's not a big deal," he said. "I'm walking pretty good today and running and stuff."
Harbaugh defends Hauschka
In another sign of the Ravens' circling of the wagons around Steve Hauschka, Harbaugh said all the blame for Hauschka's missed 44-yard field-goal attempt with two seconds left should not be heaped onto the kicker's shoulders."The snap was not perfect. The kick was not perfect. So it didn't go through," Harbaugh said. "We all try to do as good a job as we can to help our kicker make a kick. And the thing you've got to remember about that is we knew from Day One that our young kicker was going to miss a kick. And we were also pretty sure that it was going to come during a hugely critical moment. And there's no guarantee that any kicker is going to make any kick in any situation. And it's painful. Because if he had knocked that thing through the uprights, we'd all be going, 'We've got our kicker!' Well, we believe we've got our kicker. We've seen enough of him to believe that he's going to be our kicker. In the end, do we know? Only he can handle that, and he gets a little help from his holder and his snapper and his protection and his coach, and we see where it goes from there. That's the best we can do. We've got a lot of confidence in him. He's talented, he's a great kid, he works hard. Let's see what happens."
Newsome: Trade possible
General manager Ozzie Newsome wouldn't rule out the Ravens making a trade before today's 4 p.m. NFL deadline."I've had any number of conversations with any number of teams," Newsome told The Baltimore Sun on Monday. "At this point, it can go either way."
The Ravens have been linked to wide receivers Dwayne Bowe, Joey Galloway and Terrell Owens, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2004 and 2005 when Harbaugh was the special teams coordinator.
Asked to comment about his perspective on Owens, Harbaugh briefly debated speaking about a player on another team.
"All I can say about T.O. is this - I'm going to jump out on a limb here - I've got a lot of respect for T.O., OK? Always have," Harbaugh said. "He's a football player, he practices hard. I think he's got a really good heart, always have. We have a good relationship. Now is anything happening there? Not that I know of. And I think I would know if something was happening."
Allen fires back at Oher
On Sunday, rookie offensive tackle Michael Oher said he thought he held his own against Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, saying: "In the second half, I feel like I shut him out. There is nothing really special about him."On Monday, Allen offered a rebuttal.
"Well, that's just some idiot trying to talk himself up," Allen said per ProFootballTalk.com.
Baltimore Sun reporter Jamison Hensley contributed to this article.
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