The afterglow of Week 1 has burned off, and it’s all eyes on Week 2 as the Ravens gear up to host the New Orleans Saints for Sunday’s home opener at M&T Bank Stadium. We’ve had a few midweek updates come across the wire that we can discuss, and will also be using today’s newsletter to look across enemy lines for some stats on the Saints that may be relevant to the Ravens.
First Injury Report of Week 2 is a Big One
We have our first injury report of the week following the Ravens first day in gear looking ahead to Sunday’s game, and at first glance, it’s a bit of a doozy:
Starting with what we already know, Buchanan, Walker, Flowers, and Madubuike are your holdovers from Week 1, with the key distinction being that Flowers re-aggravated his hamstring in the Colts game. Per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, if Week 1 had been a more important game with heavy playoff implications, he would’ve remained in the game vs. Indy - this makes a “DNP” a bit curious for Zay, and whether he suits up for this Saints game or not will likely tell us just how much respect they have for this young team led by Kellen Moore.
On that same TV hit in which he divulged the info on Flowers, Garafolo hinted that it sounds like Nnamdi Madubuike has a “real shot” to play vs. New Orleans; this would track with him being a limited participant towards the end of last week, with the initial possibility around a Week 1 debut for him being a bit of a coin flip. In terms of guys on this list I might also expect to play, Tez Walker being listed as a full participant is encouraging (he’s already said that he’s preparing to play in this one), while I look at Teddye Buchanan as a bit of a toss-up based on how strong Trenton Simpson looked in Week 1.
For the remainder of these guys, I’d categorize Calais Campbell, Trey Hendrickson, John Simpson, and Ronnie Stanley as probable veteran rest days, even if Campbell is the only one actually listed for it. That leaves T.J. Tampa (left Sunday’s game with his injury), Keondre Jackson, and Jaylinn Hawkins, who’s probability to suit up for Sunday I would put in that order based upon their participation statuses. All in all, this is a decently sized list, but I don’t think quite as bad as it appears on first blush.
