As the Ravens prepare for the Cleveland Browns in the home opener in Baltimore on Sunday, they got some very good news about the mysterious case of Arthur Jones. The big guy had been hiding out for awhile— at least it seemed that way because the club was not releasing any explanation of why Arthur was missing.
Finally on Tuesday the Ravens delivered the goods:
The Ravens received a positive update over the weekend regarding defensive lineman Arthur Jones, who missed Thursday’s game because of an illness. The Baltimore Sun reported that Jones had a viral infection near his heart.
Jones tweeted that the decision to return would be up to the trainers and coaches, and now the focus is to get him back into conditioning because he’s been sidelined for the last two weeks.
“Arthur went and saw a specialist. Without getting into the details, I’m going to leave that up to Arthur, but it was very positive, good news,” Harbaugh said. “It seems to have cleared up. He should be good and we’ll just have to see how ready he is to play this week. That obviously will be the issue football-wise. We’ll just see how ready he is to play. Can’t make a prediction on that.”
So now we know it was a very serious medical matter— but likely one that will not prevent Arthur Jones from playing well again. Nice to know— and the Ravens could use his help on the DL…
Meanwhile, Wide receiver Jacoby Jones (knee) and right tackle Michael Oher are both “day-to-day, week-to-week,” Harbaugh said. So reported Garrett Downing of the Ravens' NFL.com site in his weekly injury report.
Jones hurt his knee after getting run into by teammate Brynden Trawick while trying to fair catch a punt. It was reported over the weekend that Jones will miss four to six weeks because of a sprained medial collateral ligament, and Harbaugh did not provide a clear timetable for his return.
“We’ll see how that goes with Jacoby,” Harbaugh said. “He has a sprain. It’s not a serious-type thing. But we’ll just have to see how that goes. It’s day-to-day, week-to-week, and we’ll see how fast he can come back.”
Oher went down with an ankle injury in the second quarter against Denver and did not return to the game. Oher has not missed a start in his entire career, and reports said that Oher could return to the field without missing game time.
“Diagnosis is the same with Michael Oher,” Harbaugh said. “Day-to-day, week-to-week.”
The other players on the 53-man roster currently dealing with injuries are wide receiver Deonte Thompson (foot) and offensive lineman Ryan Jensen (foot). Both players were inactive against the Broncos.
“He’s making good progress,” Harbaugh said about Thompson. “He’s close.”
Thompson has been sidelined since the first preseason game, and the Ravens were counting on him to have a big role in the offense this season. With the injury to Jones, getting the speedy Thompson back on the field could be a benefit for the offense and the return game.
Jensen, a rookie sixth-round pick, missed the entire preseason with an injury. The Ravens opted to keep him on the 53-man roster rather than moving him to injured reserve, and he could return to action soon.
“He’s not too far out,” Harbaugh said. “He had a broken foot early in training camp. It was early in training camp. He’s worked really hard. He’s in very good shape. He’s going to have to get into football shape. But he’s getting closer to getting back.”
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