Ravens have two healthy cornerbacks heading into Week 12
By Kristen Wong
The Baltimore Ravens‘ roster has been decimated since the start of the season, but going into Week 12, all their injured skeletons may finally come out of the closet.
The secondary, in particular, has been ravaged the most. Currently, there is only one healthy corner on the active roster: Marlon Humphrey.
The other four corners were all listed as questionable to play per Baltimore’s injury report on Friday.
The Ravens most likely will play some combination of Anthony Averett, Tavon Young, and Chris Westry in the defensive backfield, but that depends on each player’s status before Sunday’s game.
11th-year pro Jimmy Smith didn’t practice all of last week, so it’s unlikely that he’ll take the field; other corners not on the active roster are on injured reserve for the rest of the season: Marcus Peters, Khalil Dorsey, and Iman Marshall.
The Ravens also signed veteran Kevon Seymour to their active roster on Saturday thus bringing their total of fully healthy cornerbacks to two.
The Ravens will face the Browns in Week 12 with a severely depleted secondary
To pile more bad news on bad news, backup safety and nickel corner Ar’Darius Washington suffered a broken foot in practice last week.
Washington’s injury along with DeShon Elliott’s season-ending injury means the Ravens have four safeties, who all are at least healthy and ready to play (knock on wood).
Chuck Clark will lead the group, with rookie Brandon Stephens and second-year Geno Stone also in line for plenty of snaps. Veteran Anthony Levine Sr. hasn’t played a defensive snap all season but could step in if need be.
The Ravens face the Cleveland Browns in Week 12, who rank 25th in the league in passing yards per game (205.6). Still, the Browns have potentially dangerous deep threats in Jarvis Landry and Donovan People-Jones.
Much of Baltimore’s success in Week 12 will depend on whether the Ravens’ run defense can stop Nick Chubb, but Landry and People-Jones serve as underrated targets who could wreak havoc if they find open space.
And we all know how the Ravens have fared in missed tackles this year.
The theme in Week 12, as it has been every other week, will be overcoming adversity, and it’ll be an early Christmas miracle if the Ravens’ secondary can lock this game down.