Ravens starting quarterback Joe Flacco (back) returned to practice Saturday.

"He practiced very well," coach John Harbaugh said. "Now, one of the next pieces is to see how he responds to that over the next few days."

Related Players: Jeremy Maclin, Mike Wallace, Terrance West, Danny Woodhead

This is obviously good news for the Ravens offense and its pass catchers, who each present some fantasy value in drafts, considering Baltimore lost more than 300 targets from a year ago.

It looks like quarterback Joe Flacco isn't the only injured Baltimore Ravens player on track for the season opener.

The Ravens are "very optimistic" wide receiver Breshad Perriman will play Sept. 10 in Cincinnati, coach John Harbaugh said Tuesday.

"That's barring any kind of setback," Harbaugh added.

Related players: Michael Campanaro

Perriman, the team's 2015 first-round pick, hasn't practiced since suffering a significant hamstring injury on Aug. 1. He isn't expected to play in Thursday's preseason finale, which means he has only played in one preseason game in three NFL seasons. The hope is for Perriman to be Baltimore's No. 3 receiver behind Jeremy Maclin and Mike Wallace. In Perriman's absence, Michael Campanaro has been the third receiver.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh guaranteed that quarterback Joe Flacco would be ready to go in time for the season opener on September 10 and the quarterback has taken a step toward fulfilling that promise.

Harbaugh said Tuesday that Flacco has resumed throwing after an extended layoff due to a back issue that cropped up earlier this summer. Flacco initially said he hoped to be out of action for a week, but he has not practiced or played in any preseason games while waiting for the go-ahead to resume work.

Related players: Ryan Mallet

Flacco is not practicing with the team yet, the story said, but that should be the next step in getting ready for the Week 1 game against the Bengals. Mallett has filled in for Flacco as the starter during training camp and the preseason but has not looked great.

Ravens QB Joe Flacco is preparing to miss 3-6 wks with a disc issue in his back. Out at least a week or two.

Rapoport added, "out at least a week or two," but it's unclear if he's talking about the regular season or if he's saying that Flacco will miss 1-2 weeks at a minimum with 3-6 weeks as a possibility. We'll continue to follow this story.

"Really, ever since we lost Ray Rice, we haven't had a type of back that’s quite like how Ray was and quite like how (Danny Woodhead) is in the passing game," quarterback Joe Flacco said. "They just have a very good feel for when they're open and how to get open, how to sit in holes, how to find my eyes, and you can already see that. You can see he has a really good feel for those kinds of things. If you remember back, obviously, Ray was really good at doing that, and that gives a lot to your offense for sure."

From 2009-13, no running back caught more passes than Rice, who averaged 67 receptions a season during that span. Over the past three campaigns, no Baltimore running back has totaled more than 45 catches.

Woodhead is expected to play a big role in the Ravens' passing game because two of Flacco's top underneath targets are gone. Tight end Dennis Pitta was released after re-injuring his right hip, and fullback Kyle Juszczyk signed with the San Francisco 49ers in free agency.

We can file this one under "Duh." Woodhead should catch a ton of passes for the Ravens, though we are a bit concerned about his playing time when Kenneth Dixon returns from suspension. Woodhead's third-down/hurry-up role should be safe with Dixon pushing Terrance West for carries on early downs.