Ravens place 4 players on COVID-19 list including Justin Houston

The Baltimore Ravens will be without a number of key defensive players in Sunday’s game as the team has placed four players on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

It was reported earlier on Friday that outside linebacker Jaylon Ferguson had tested positive for COVID-19. A few players were deemed potential close contacts and it now seems as though we know who those players were.

Along with Ferguson, the Ravens also placed defensive tackles Brandon Williams and Justin Madubuike on the COVID-19 list as well as outside linebacker Justin Houston.

All four players were held out of Friday’s practice and will not be able to play in this Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions.

The Ravens will be without four front-seven players on Sunday

Williams was dealing with a neck injury in practice and was likely going to be listed as questionable regardless. Now, it seems as though he, along with the three others, won’t be playing this weekend.

This does mean one of two things. It either means that they tested positive for COVID-19 themselves or they are unvaccinated and were deemed high-risk close contacts.

This is because vaccinated players cannot be considered high-risk close contacts and are not required to isolate unless they have tested positive themselves, per the NFL’s COVID-19 policies.

If they are vaccinated and tested positive, they will be permitted to return once they submit two negative tests 24 hours apart. But if they are unvaccinated and tested positive, they will be forced to quarantine for at least 10 days before they could begin testing to return.

If they are unvaccinated and considered high-risk close contacts, they will be required to quarantine for at least five days.

The Ravens’ front-seven will be shorthanded this Sunday as a result. With Williams, Madubuike, and Derek Wolfe (back) out, Baltimore is down to just Calais Campbell, Justin Ellis, Broderick Washington, and likely practice squad call-up Kahlil McKenzie.

Meanwhile, they’ll be down two outside linebackers in Houston and Ferguson with Pernell McPhee listed as questionable with a shoulder injury. McPhee notably did not practice on Friday leaving his status for Sunday very much in doubt.

The Ravens still have Tyus Bowser and rookies Odafe Oweh and Daelin Hayes (who is also questionable with a knee injury), but they may have to resort to promoting Chris Smith who is on the practice squad.

The Ravens will be playing this Sunday’s game with a shorthanded defense — hardly an ideal scenario for a team dealing with so many injuries already.