We're less than 36 hours away from watching the Baltimore Ravens take the field of the M&T Bank Stadium for the first time this season.
The Flock will host the lowly Houston Texans on Sunday, and the outlook of the matchup is becoming a little bit clearer with each passing hour.
Between the latest press conferences, the release of a few injury reports, the analysis from across the NFL world, and our own coverage of the Ravens at Ebony Bird, we've put together a summary of what we know and what we don't know about Baltimore and Houston entering Week 1.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of Sunday's season opener.
1. We don't know: Who will be Lamar Jackson's backup?
It's very clear who will be out there in the pocket come Sunday's first offensive snaps for the Ravens. Who will be waiting on the wings, just in case Lamar goes down at some point, is still all the way up in the air.
Incumbent QB2 Tyler Huntley suffered a hamstring injury back in the first game of the preseason against the Eagles and he had not practiced with the team until earlier this week. However, he was never listed in the Ravens' injury report through the last five days.
Veteran Josh Johnson was cut by the Ravens before the franchise trimmed its roster to a 53-man size, but the Flock later re-signed him while releasing QB4 Anthony Brown.
Speaking to the media after Friday's practice, head coach John Harbaugh didn't give us any clue about who will be Lamar's backup in Week 1, or even if the team will carry the two reserves into their gameday squad to face Houston.
"We'll go week to week based on the circumstances right now of where we're at, what are needs are that particular week,” Harbaugh said per BaltimoreRavens.com. “We'll just figure it out as we go. We're just very blessed to have three really good quarterbacks and have two guys who are very capable of doing the job."
Asked about the chance of backing Lamar up, veteran Johnson said that "It's up to the coaches to decide who they want out there," acknowledging that "We all know who the starter is."
Johnson had a strong preseason and should be the actual QB2 because of that and his healthier situation. For now, though, we don't know if that'd be the case or not.
2. We know: The Ravens won't have CB Marlon Humphrey available
It took the Ravens a few days to confirm the bad news, but they finally ruled Humphrey out for Sunday's matchup against the Texans following Friday's practice.
Baltimore listed Humphrey in their early-week injury reports and they finally labeled him "out" for Sunday as the cornerback will keep recovering from a late-August foot injury and subsequent surgery.
In a worst-case scenario, Humphrey could miss three games considering he wasn't put in the IR so he should be back before the Ravens play their fourth game of the year. That means missing the matchups against Houston, Cincinnati, and Indianpolis.
With Humphrey out, the Ravens will be forced to dig deeper into their cornerback room and come up with one of two solutions: 1) play Rock Ya-Sin and Ronald Darby across from each other, or 2) play one of those two across from Brandon Stephens, who is listed as Humphrey's backup on the depth chart.
On a positive note, Harbaugh said on Monday that Humphrey is "right on schedule" and "doing great,” which might mean that he could be out there to face the superpowered offense of the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2.
3. We don't know: Who will end up taking the most snaps at OLB?
While the Ravens boast one of the strongest inside-linebacker pairings in the NFL, the outside members of the second line of the Flock's defense aren't even remotely close to the talent of the ILBs.
According to the Ravens depth chart released earlier this week, David Ojabo will be the main starter opposite Odafe Oweh with veteran Jadeveon Clowney hitting the pine at least for the first few snaps next Sunday.
Clowney spoke a few days ago about his relationship with Oweh, praising the third-year man and revealing how he's trying to help him to hone his skills. However, Clowney didn't show any signs of interest in doing the same with Ojabo, which could mean trouble.
Everybody in the organization believes in Ojabo's eventual development, but the Ravens are going all-in this season and hunting for an ever-elusive third Super Bowl. There might be no time to wait for Ojabo to break out.
Maybe a trade or simply benching him in favor of a former No. 1 overall pick and a much more experienced player like Clowney makes the most sense this year, so it's probable that Clowney ends up taking more snaps than Ojabo as the season grows older if the younger rusher's development stalls.
4. We know: J.K. Dobbins and Rashod Bateman are 100% and ready to go
This is an old story already and you know all of the details by now.
J.K. Dobbins entered the training camp nursing an injury, stayed put on the PUP list for most of the summer, but then miraculously "recovered" from it and hit the training facilities with the rest of his teammates. Call it ending a hold-in if you wish.
Rashod Bateman was on a similar, only in his case real, situation through most of the summer. He also had to forfeit the largest part of training camp while recovering from Lisfranc foot surgery. He finally returned ahead of the last preseason game but was reasonably left out of it.
Now, entering Week 1 of the 2023 NFL regular season, both playmakers are available and ready to go at full speed against the Houston Texans.
"Rashod looks full speed ready to go."
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 8, 2023
Bonus points for the pun Coach 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/mb4sSheZKy
"[Bateman] looks full speed ready to go,” John Harbaugh said following Friday's practice, per Clifton Brown of BaltimoreRavens.com.
Bateman answered those comments by saying that he is "excited" and "in a good place," while adding that the team is "in a good spot." The third-year wideout was expected to be named the WR1 of the team, but he was demoted a notch in favor of Odell Beckham in the team's unofficial depth chart ahead of Week 1.
Dobbins was removed from the PUP list in mid-August but he has yet to take the field for the first time this summer. The running back was able to run some drills, practice by himself, and ultimately join his teammates late last month. He was named RB1 by the franchise ahead of Gus Edwards in the depth chart after Edwards took that role through the preseason.
Asked about Dobbins' availability for Sunday's opener, Harbaugh said "We don’t have any concern about how many snaps J.K. has had to this point. He’s had enough. He’s ready to go." Expect a full workload.
5. We don't know: Will TE Mark Andrews miss the game out of precaution?
The Ravens, both players and fans, would hate to hear about the confirmation of Andrews being ruled out for Sunday's opener. That, though, is closer than ever to happening after the franchise released their latest injury report following Friday's practice.
Mark Andrews' status for the game was uncertain earlier this week but he seemed to be alright and confident about making it to the field of The Bank later this week. That, however, may no longer be the case.
Andrews was a limited participant in practice for three consecutive days at the start of the week after suffering his quad injury back on Aug. 21. Now, he's "questionable" to play come Sunday.
The Ravens might decide to sit Andrews out for what looks like (at least on paper) an easy game against the lowly Texans. However, the Kansas City Chiefs sat Travis Kelce on TNF in a very similar situation against the Lions and ended up losing that game.
If Baltimore rules Andrews out for Sunday, then it'll be time for TE2 Isaiah Likely and TE3 Charlie Kolar to step up and take advantage of their moment.
It's worth noting that Monken has a track record of using dual-tight-end formations during his time at Georgia, leading the Bulldogs to back-to-back NCAA titles. Those formations make more sense if led by Andrews accompanied by a rotational TE, but in any case, it shows how Monken might not be afraid of using any/both of his reserve tight ends on Sunday.
6. We know: Between injuries and inexperience, the Houston Texans are in for a tough one
It's hard to find an injury report featuring more players than the one released by the Houston Texans on Friday, not to mention the players they had already ruled out before because of different injuries.
Houston won't be able to field linebacker Blake Cashman and safety Jimmie Ward. On top of that, the franchise ruled wide receiver John Metchie III out for Sunday a few hours ago.
Running back Dare Ogunbowale could join all of the men listed above as he was also listed as "questionable" on Friday's injury report.
Now, you add the fact that Houston is entering the 2023 season featuring a rookie QB and a head coach making his debut at the role in the NFL, and things are looking rather ominous for the squad from the Lone Star State.
The Ravens have won six of their last seven Week 1 games, have outscored their opponents 228-68 in those matchups, are 3-0 against the Texans in their last three meetings, and Harbaugh is 21-7 against freshman QBs since taking over the head coach position in Baltimore all the way back in 2008.
Cold world, Houston.