: Joe Flacco
The Ravens lost another one of their top playmakers.
Already playing without quarterback Joe Flacco, running back Justin Forsett and wide receiver Steve Smith Sr., the Ravens watched starting tight end Crockett Gillmore leave today's game against the Miami Dolphins with a back injury.
Gillmore made a seven-yard catch in the first quarter and was drilled to the ground by Koa Misi and Michael Thomas. It isn't clear whether that was the play on which Gillmore was hurt.
In his second season, Gillmore has been a revelation this year for the Ravens. He entered the game with 32 catches for 405 yards and four touchdowns in nine games.
His injury left the Ravens with just one healthy tight end: rookie Nick Boyle. Maxx Williams was inactive for the game because of a concussion.
The Ravens have claimed quarterback Jimmy Clausen off w...
The Ravens have claimed quarterback Jimmy Clausen off waivers to be their backup to new starter Matt Schaub.
Baltimore officially placed Joe Flacco (ACL/MCL) on season-ending injured reserve.
Clausen became available after the Bears waived him Monday to promote David Fales from the practice squad. It came at a good time for the Ravens.
Clausen worked with Ravens Offensive Coordinator Marc Trestman for the past two seasons in Chicago, which gives him a mental leg up in joining Baltimore midway through the season. He already knows the framework of the system.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh was optimistic that QB Joe Flacco will be ready to return in time to prepare for the 2016 season.
"I think it's probably way early and obviously speculative, but the indications that I've been given would be that he would be back for the start of training camp and it wouldn't be an issue," Harbaugh said Monday. "However, as we all know, those are always things that get determined based on how the rehab goes."
Good news for Flacco owners. Like Harbaugh said, it's certainly possible there are setbacks in rehab, but the timetable he was given indicates Flacco will be ready for camp next summer.
Ravens QB Joe Flacco will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL and possibly a torn MCL, coach John Harbaugh announced after the Ravens' win over the Rams.
"It's just the nature of the game, man," Flacco said after the game. "Stuff like this happens. So you've just got to stand tall and get through it."
The Ravens could take solace that the timing of the injury gives Flacco more time to rehabilitate for 2016. The injury also came in a rare lost season for the Ravens.
The Ravens will turn to Matt Schaub at QB for the rest of the year. RB Justin Forsett (broken arm) was also lost for the year in this game. Of course, the team was already without Steve L. Smith so it could be a struggle on offense for Schaub.
Eagles QB Sam Bradford (concussion, left shoulder, out)...
Eagles QB Sam Bradford (concussion, left shoulder, out) missed practice all week and is out for Week 11. Bradford is in step two (of five) of the concussion protocol and is going to have a tough time making his return for Week 11. He also has a separated left shoulder, but wants to play. But it looks like Mark Sanchez will get the start. In eight starts last year, Sanchez completed 63.8% of his passes for an average of 277 yards, 1.50 TD and 1.13 INT. That equates to 16.6 FP, or about what Joe Flacco averaged as the QB13 last year. He has a nice matchup with the Buccaneers, who are #24 in QB aFPA. However, he was also a main player in The Buttfumble. Last year, Jordan Matthews averaged 4.2-67-0.67 in games that Sanchez attempted at least 20 passes. He averaged 4.1-39-0.29 in the other seven games.
Eagles QB Sam Bradford (concussion, left shoulder) miss...
Eagles QB Sam Bradford (concussion, left shoulder) missed practice again Thursday. Bradford is in step two (of five) of the concussion protocol and is going to have a tough time making his return for Week 11. He also has a separated left shoulder, but wants to play. But it looks like Mark Sanchez will get the start. In eight starts last year, Sanchez completed 63.8% of his passes for an average of 277 yards, 1.50 TD and 1.13 INT. That equates to 16.6 FP, or about what Joe Flacco averaged as the QB13 last year. He has a nice matchup with the Buccaneers, who are #24 in QB aFPA. However, he was also a main player in The Buttfumble. Last year, Jordan Matthews averaged 4.2-67-0.67 in games that Sanchez attempted at least 20 passes. He averaged 4.1-39-0.29 in the other seven games.
Eagles QB Sam Bradford (concussion, left shoulder) did ...
Eagles QB Sam Bradford (concussion, left shoulder) did not practice Wednesday. Bradford is in the concussion protocol and is going to have a tough time making his return for Week 11. He also has a separated left shoulder, but wants to play. But it looks like Mark Sanchez will get the start. In eight starts last year, Sanchez completed 63.8% of his passes for an average of 277 yards, 1.50 TD and 1.13 INT. That equates to 16.6 FP, or about what Joe Flacco averaged as the QB13 last year. He has a nice matchup with the Buccaneers, who are #24 in QB aFPA. However, he was also a main player in The Buttfumble. Last year, Jordan Matthews averaged 4.2-67-0.67 in games that Sanchez attempted at least 20 passes. He averaged 4.1-39-0.29 in the other seven games.
Something quietly changed on the Baltimore Ravens' depth chart during the bye: Chris Givens is now listed as a starting wide receiver alongside Kamar Aiken.
While the depth chart in the team's weekly release is considered unofficial, this is an indication that Givens should be considered the frontrunner over Marlon Brown and Jeremy Ross in taking over Steve Smith's starting spot.
Givens' speed complements Joe Flacco's strong arm. He is coming off his best game of the year, catching three passes for 57 yards, including a 39-yarder against the Chargers.
"Every time he has gotten in the game, he has made plays," Flacco said. "I think guys see that, guys react well to that. I think he’s becoming one of us."
It's evident Flacco already has more chemistry with Givens. In the last game, Flacco's 18-yard pass to Givens on a back-shoulder throw jumpstarted the winning drive.
“He’s starting to feel it a little bit,” coach John Harbaugh said. “He and Joe [Flacco] are starting to develop something, an understanding for one another.”
Givens showed a lot of promise as a rookie for the Rams in 2012, gaining at least 50 yards in seven of eight games during a midseason stretch. St. Louis had major issues at quarterback in 2013 and 2014, and Givens fell behind Kenny Britt, Brian Quick and Tavon Austin on the team's depth chart over the past two seasons. Now the 4.41 speedster is going to see major snaps for Ravens with a quarterback who throws a nice deep ball. In his career, Givens has seen five-plus targets in 16 games and has averaged 3.5 catches for 54 yards and 0.12 TD in those games. He's not likely to set the world on fire, but it's feasible that he posts WR4 numbers the rest of the way.
Kamar Aiken has gone from a journeyman with no career starts before this season to the Baltimore Ravens' No. 1 wide receiver by midseason.
This is what happens when Steve L Smith is lost for the season with an Achilles injury and first-round pick Breshad Perriman is sidelined with a sprained knee. If Sunday's 29-26 win over the San Diego Chargers is any indication, Aiken will assume Smith's role as Joe Flacco's top target.
After Smith left late in the third quarter, Aiken was targeted on half of Flacco's 10 passes. He caught five passes for 59 yards in a little over a quarter and drew a key 21-yard pass-interference penalty that set up the winning kick.
Once considered a given to again be among the most stable and feared units in the NFL, the Ravens rushing offense has been successful only in a formation that a year ago it shied away from.
Through two games this season, running backs Justin Forsett and Lorenzo Taliaferro are averaging seven yards per carry (12 rushes, 84 yards) out of the shotgun formation — all of those carries coming in Sunday's 37-33 loss to the Oakland Raiders. But that duo, and rookie Buck Allen, averaged 2.82 yards per carry (34 rushes for 96 yards) when quarterback Joe Flacco was under center.
It's a unique problem for the Ravens, and one likely exacerbated by the game situations Sunday in Oakland — the Ravens twice trailed by two scores, and found a rhythm in the shotgun that had eluded them through the first game against the Denver Broncos.
But their 12 carries on draw plays out of the shotgun were more than Ravens running backs had during all of the 2014 season (nine), and through two games was the only way the offense substantially moved the ball on the ground. No NFL team used the shotgun formation less than the Ravens last season.
However small the sample size, it brings into question how the pair of top backs will be utilized going forward, and whether the zone scheme that Forsett found success in last year will yield similar results this year. Fantasy owners probably don't care what formation Forsett is in at this point, but perhaps it's at least good news the Ravens have found something to build off in the run game.
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