After the Ravens finished last season with 20 players on injured reserve, there's been a little bit of a "here we go again" reaction by some fans to the first week of training camp.
The Ravens started camp with running backs Lorenzo Taliaferro (foot) and Trent Richardson (knee), wide receivers Steve Smith Sr. (Achilles) and Breshad Perriman (knee), and outside linebackers Terrell Suggs (Achilles) and Elvis Dumervil (foot) on the physically unable to perform list.
They've since lost running back Kenneth Dixon (knee), wide receiver Chris Moore (foot/ankle), tight ends Crockett Gillmore (hamstring) and Dennis Pitta (finger), defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan (ribs) and cornerback Maurice Canady (undisclosed) to various injuries ranging in severity.
But this is hardly a unique situation. Guys are going down every day at camps throughout the NFL. It's the reality of the league. Just today, the Ravens' two chief division rivals – the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals – lost potentially key players to long-term injuries.
Steelers cornerback Senquez Golson has a Lisfranc injury that could keep him out for 12 weeks, according to NFL Network. Bengals cornerback and first-round pick William Jackson has a torn pectoral, according to multiple reports. Jackson could be done for the season.
Every team is dealing with injuries. The good news for the Ravens is that none of their current sidelined players figure to be in danger of missing the start of the regular season to this point.
Suggs and Dumervil continue to make progress in their rehabilitation programs and they figure to return to practice relatively soon. A malaise can set in during training camp at different points, so the return of the two defensive leaders would be a nice boost.
It's a bit surprising that the Ravens haven't added another running back when the only healthy ones they have are Justin Forsett, Buck Allen and Terrance West. They are going to need more than that once the preseason schedule starts next Thursday. Perhaps, they are counting on Dixon, who was diagnosed with a relatively minor knee sprain, returning soon.
We spent the weeks leading up to training camp talking about how deep the Ravens are at running back, wide receiver and tight end, and speculating on how the team was going to be able to keep certain guys at those spots. After less than a week of training camp, the Ravens are down to three running backs as I wrote above. They have eight healthy receivers, which has necessitated Darren Waller and Daniel Brown, who had transitioned to tight end, taking some repetitions back at receiver. They also have five only five healthy tight ends and two of those guys – Waller and Nick Boyle – are suspended to start the season, so getting them repetitions isn't exactly a high priority.
West is off to a good start
I've read plenty of snarky comments in response to my observation on Twitter that West has been the Ravens' most explosive offensive player so far this summer. Look, I get it. West has been a disappointment so far in the NFL. It also needs to be said that West understands he is playing for a job and possibly his NFL career, while fellow running backs like Justin Forsett and Buck Allen are more focused on being ready and healthy for the Sept. 11 opener and may not share the same sense of urgency as West. Again, I get it. But in watching training camp practices so far, it's been obvious that West, who shed 15 pounds in the offseason, has been in a different gear than the Ravens backs. We'll see if he keeps that momentum going throughout the rest of the summer and the preseason, but he's off to a really good start in his effort to secure a roster spot and an offensive role.
Camp surprise
Not a lot has been said about it, but I think the biggest surprise of camp so far is not that Correa is getting some repetitions as the starting weak-side linebacker or that the Ravens are experimenting with two safeties (Anthony Levine and Matt Elam) at weak-side linebacker. Both were hinted at by coach John Harbaugh earlier this offseason. It's that Albert McClellan appears to be penciled in as the starting strong-side linebacker.
Of course, Dumervil will play on passing downs at that spot, but the Ravens are seemingly content with asking McClellan, a long-time special teams ace and reserve linebacker, to set the edge in the running game and beat up on opposing backs and tight ends. That's no disrespect to McClellan whose special teams play and versatility has been extremely valuable to the Ravens since he joined the organization in 2010. It was just expected that second-year linebacker Za'Darius Smith would occupy the role that Courtney Upshaw used to hold.
Instead, Smith is getting more of his repetitions at rush linebacker where he figures to spell Suggs on occasion. That would also allow the Ravens to move Smith, who has very good pass-rushing skills, around in a manner like they used to use Pernell McPhee.
McClellan is currently the starter at strong-side linebacker. Zachary Orr is competing for the starting weak-side linebacker job. Levine could be in line for a bigger role with his move from safety to linebacker. Kamar Aiken figures to start at wide receiver. All initially made the Ravens because of their special teams play before ultimately getting the opportunity to occupy bigger roles. I'm sure their situations have been addressed with the current Ravens rookies, several of whom will have to make the team with their special teams play.
Draft regret?
It's always best to be skeptical about early training camp reports, but what's being said or written out of Tampa Bay right now about Eastern Kentucky pass rusher Noah Spence sure makes you wonder if the Ravens are going to regret passing on him not just once, but twice in the second round. The Ravens had two shots to draft Spence but traded back each time and wound up selecting Kamalei Correa at 42 overall. Spence went to the Buccaneers with the 39th pick. It's unclear why the Ravens passed on Spence. Maybe they didn't see him as best fit for their defense. Maybe they were scared off by Spence's past drug issues. Maybe they simply liked Correa better and he's certainly been impressive so far. But I'm guessing the reason won't matter much to Ravens fans if Spence stays out of trouble and builds off what has reportedly been an impressive start to the summer.