If ever the Ravens needed to eke out a win over a struggling New York Jets team at the Meadowlands, it is this weekend.
Injuries are beginning to pile up to key starters that have a major impact on games.
The latest is OLB/pass rusher Terrell Suggs, who left Sunday’s game with what is being reported as a biceps tear, according to Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the injury is not season-ending and Suggs wants to play through it. Suggs also suffered a biceps tear in 2012 and played through it on the way to the Ravens’ Super Bowl XLVII win.
But even if Suggs plays essentially with one arm, he has still lost a step in quickness and explosiveness since coming back from last year’s Achilles injury. The Ravens pass rush has been dismal with him, and will be worse without him.
The 34-year-old veteran linebacker appeared to injure his arm while sacking quarterback Eli Manning in the fourth quarter last Sunday against the Giants. Immediately after the takedown, Suggs grabbed his arm and rushed to the sideline. Medical staff wrapped his arm, but he never returned.
Meanwhile the Ravens’ other big-nam pass rush specialist Elvis Dumervil, 32, sat out Sunday’s game with a foot injury after missing the first three games with the same issue. It’s unclear when he’s going to return to the lineup against the Jets—or if he could even be effective if he does.
“If Suggs requires surgery, it could potentially end his season,” wrote CSNMidAtlantic.com’s Clifton Brown. “Even if Suggs avoided surgery, how effective would he be playing with a torn biceps in his 14th season? Suggs’ uncertain status, only adds to the problems the Ravens (3-3) face riding a three-game losing streak. An already injury-depleted team may face the prospect of having Suggs not at 100 percent, or at worst, not at all.”
“We don’t know,” Suggs said. “I ain’t no doctor. We’re going to get it looked at, but you know who I am and what I represent.” Translation—he wants to play.
Just as damaging to the team’s competitive quality on defense, cornerback Jimmy Smith is possibly out of the next game due to concussion protocol.
“The biggest play of the game was the one in which [Smith] sustained a concussion,” wrote The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec. “That’s not to say Smith would have shut the electric Odell Beckham down. But he would have fared far better than Shareece Wright, Will Davisand Tavon Young.”
After the game, Young took blame for Beckham’s 66-yard touchdown reception on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter that ultimately held for the Giants’ victory. The rookie tried to jam Beckham at the line, but the receiver got inside position and Young collided with safetyEric Weddle, sending both players to the ground. Beckham was off to the races and outran the rest of the Ravens secondary to the end zone.
Young was also beaten on Roger Lewis Jr.’s 24-yard touchdown catch late in the second quarter, says The Sun, but he also had a monster diving interception – his second of the season – that led to a field goal.
“After Jimmy Smith went out, the Ravens simply couldn’t handle [Beckham],” said Brown. “Making a catch on a slant is one thing, taking it to the house in that situation, if you’re the Ravens, you cannot allow that. It showed you how vulnerable their secondary can still be without Jimmy Smith.
“That’s one thing that I was concerned about coming into the season. Even though they brought in Weddle and switched [Lardarius] Webb to safety, if anything happened to Jimmy Smith, it could be a problem. That showed up in a big way against Odell Beckham.”
One ray of light for the Ravens is nobody in the AFC North has run away with the division—yet:
AFC North Standings as of October 17, 2016:
Pittsburgh Steelers: 4-2
Baltimore Ravens: 3-3
Cincinnati Bengals: 2-4
Cleveland Browns: 0-6
Injury-wise, the Ravens were already missing five Pro Bowlers: wide receiver Steve Smith Sr., guard Marshal Yanda, linebacker C.J. Mosley, returner Devin Hester and Dumervil. Plus, they were missing left tackle and first-round pickRonnie Stanley.
“This season is slipping away in a hurry, and for the second year in a row, the Ravens might be too wounded to do much about it,” wrote The Sun’s Childs Walker.
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