Getty Ravens WR Rashod Bateman is one of a handful of players sitting out mandatory minicamp.
Even though the Baltimore Ravens have several starters and key rotational role players heading into the final year of their respective contracts seeking new deals, thankful, they still had the entire roster report for their mandatory minicamp this week on Monday, June 12, 2023.
While every player is present, there is a handful that won’t or have yet to take the practice field because they are either dealing with lingering injuries or being held out for precautionary reasons.
One of the most notable players that head coach John Harbaugh said would not be participating in minicamp altogether is third-year wide receiver Rashod Bateman who has struggled with injuries to start his career and is heading into a pivotal make-of-break season in 2023.
“I’m not expecting ‘Bate’ to be a part of it right now,” he said. “He had a shot for healing purposes – cortisone-type deal – so that will keep him out for a couple days. So, we just decided to just let him keep rehabbing and make sure he’s ready to go for training camp.”
In his first two seasons in the league since being selected No. 27 overall in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Minnesota, he has missed 16 of a possible 35 games including the postseason.
Even though Bateman has shown exciting and explosive flashes, he has recorded just 61 receptions on 96 targets for 800 receiving yards and caught three touchdowns in 18 games that included nine starts according to Pro Football Reference.
While veteran wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. reported and was on the field for the first two days of minicamp, the Ravens are still easing the three-time Pro Bowler back into action with a “ramp-up” period.
He didn’t attend the voluntary portion of the team’s offseason program and sat out the entire 2022 season while he recovered from a torn ACL he suffered in February of that year playing in Super Bowl 56 with the Los Angeles Rams.
“He is going to be full-go in terms of health and all that, but I also expect us to ramp up a lot of our guys,” Harbaugh said. “We’re going to see where guys are at. We’re not going to be in a hurry to throw guys out there too much [with] too many reps. We want to get a feel for everything. He is learning the offense for the first time, just like a lot of guys have been. So, I think it will be kind of a see-as-we-go. [He’ll] go through individual, take a few reps in group and team and see how he and the other guys feel, and we’ll go from there.”
From the video practice highlights of him going through individual drills and a handful of team reps, Beckham Jr. was running smooth routes and showing no lingering issues with his surgically repaired knee.
Young Cornerbacks Still Banged Up
Harbaugh told reporters that one of the team’s top competitions during minicamp ahead of training camp will be figuring out roles for players in their secondary and particularly at cornerback when it comes to figuring out who will play and focus on a particular spot.
“We’ll be looking to kind of firm up our different roles back there – corner, inside, and outside,” he said. “That will be something that will be important.”
Two players that will have to wait until training camp to begin proving themselves and earn a spot as a potential starter or primary backup due to lingering injuries are second-year cornerbacks Jalyn Armour-Davis and Damarion ‘Pepe’ Williams.
“Pepe is out, Jalyn is going to do ACT and some individual,” Harbaugh said. “Pepe is going to be out, probably, maybe even. He tells me he’s going to be back to start training camp – we’ll see. That’s where he’s at with his process.”
Both players were among the six picks that the Ravens made in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft last year with Armour-Davis being the second at No. 119 overall out of Alabama and Williams being the sixth and final at No. 141 overall out of Houston.
Neither player established themselves as key cogs on defense and they each made their fair share of mistakes early on in the year when the Ravens pass defense was struggling to consistently get off the field and prevent big plays through the air.
Injuries have plagued Armour-Davis in particular and limited him to just four games as a rookie while Williams appeared in 14 games in his first year but was mostly relegated to special teams after the first eight games of the season.
The Ravens would like to give their young recently drafted cornerbacks a shot at proving they can provide quality and reliable depth behind projected starters Rock Ya-Sin and three-time Pro Bowler Marlon Humphrey.
However, if they do not rise to the occasion and seize the opportunity that lies before them as a result of health or poor performance, the front office likely won’t hesitate to bring in veteran reinforcements with familiar players still available such as three-time Pro Bowler Marcus Peters and five-year veteran Anthony Averett.
Key Exciting Offensive Weapon is ‘Not Ready to Go’
Starting running back J.K. Dobbins is one of the many players heading into the final year of his current contract as his rookie deal is set to expire after the 2023 season. Unfortunately, injuries have prevented him from consistently staying on the field past two years as he missed the entire 2021 season with a severe knee injury and suffered some setbacks in his first season back in 2022.
The former second-round pick is a player that many pundits believe is in store for a huge breakout season if he can stay healthy and that the coaching staff is “excited about” his prospects in the Ravens’ new offense under Todd Monken as well.
“It’s going to be interesting [to see] how he fits in, because J.K. has got a lot of dynamic ability – backfield, motion, wide plays, inside plays, even the A-gap plays that we’ve always run,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “As a receiver out of the backfield, I think he’s got a lot of potential. So, I’m very excited about J.K. and how he’s going to fit in here.”
Harbaugh took the podium before practice on Tuesday and it was later revealed that Dobbins, who reported and participated in the team’s media day on Monday, wasn’t on the field for team activities.
According to Monken from ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, the 24-year-old who didn’t attend the voluntary portion of the Ravens offseason program is “not ready to go”.
“I know he’s ready to go when he’s out there,” Monken said. “We are certainly better with him out there.”
Dobbins has been the Ravens’ best and most productive runner not named Lamar Jackson since his standout rookie year in 2020 when he led all running backs in the league with six yards per carry per Pro Football Reference and set a franchise record for rushing touchdowns by a rookie with nine.
When healthy, Dobbins is one of the most explosive playmakers in the league with the way he can rip off big runs and bounce off would-be tacklers with a beautiful blend of power and superb contact balance.
Dobbins made some headlines after he posted some cryptic tweets about his long-term future with the team as he looks to get an extension prior to the season. Sadly, with this latest update, it appears he has even less leverage than before.
Until he can prove he can stay on the field, any negotiations would be on the terms and timeline of the Ravens’ front office because they hold all the bargaining chips as it currently stands.
