The Ravens arrived at Saturday's deadline for making the final roster moves ahead of Week 4 already banged up with five starters ruled out... and they lost another body to Injured Reserve out of left field.
Baltimore announced that second-year outside linebacker David Ojabo has been placed on IR before the Week 4 game at Cleveland, ruling the sophomore out for the next four matchups and making him ineligible until Week 8 at least.
We have placed OLB David Ojabo (ankle/knee) on Injured Reserve.
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 30, 2023
We have signed Kyle Van Noy to the 53-man roster.
We have also elevated RB Melvin Gordon III and WR Laquon Treadwell from the practice squad for tomorrow’s game.
In all honesty, we all knew something like this was probably coming and you could see it from light years away the minute Ojabo popped up in the Ravens injury reports, let alone when Baltimore went on and signed OLB Kyle Van Noy off the streets.
Ojabo enters IR having played four snaps against the Colts last weekend before getting ruled out for the remainder of the Ravens' first loss of the season. He had a sack forcing a fumble in Week 1, but that's it for the youngster for now.
Not only is Ojabo getting placed on IR, but making things even worse the franchise listed him there with both ankle and knee injuries. Even struggling in his second year in the NFL, his absence will surely be noted by a ravaged Ravens defense.
Ojabo is coming off a nearly-missed rookie season in which he only appeared in two regular-season matchups as well as defending two snaps in the postseason to wrap up his first pro year.
The defensive end was recovering from an Achilles tear suffered at Michigan's Pro Day ahead of the draft, which helped Baltimore draft him in the second round while he was considered a first-round talent.
The Ravens will use a rotation of Jadeveon Clowney, Kyle Van Noy, rookie Tavius Robinson, and practice-squad member Jeremiah Moon with Ojabo and fellow rusher Odafe Oweh out for Week 4.
WR Laquon Treadwell, RB Melvin Gordon elevated from practice squad
Along with Van Noy's signing to the 53-man roster following Ojabo's IR placement, the Ravens are elevating two skill-position players to fill the open holes in their gameday squad to face the Browns on Sunday.
Former first-round picks Laquon Treadwell and Melvin Gordon will be on the sidelines come kick-off time after getting promoted to Baltimore's active roster.
The Ravens left Kenyon Drake inactive for Week 4 after getting the positive news of Gus Edwards and Justice Hill being back available to play, thus needing only one more warm body (MG3) to fill the three-man backfield rotation.
Gordon will need to clear waivers if he's not signed to the 53-man roster after Week 4 as he's run out of elevations with the Ravens. If he clears waivers, he would be allowed to rejoin the practice squad of Baltimore ahead of Week 5.
As for Treadwell, he joins the only three active wideouts currently healthy and ready to play: Zay Flowers, Nelson Agholor, and Devin Duvernay. Treadwell has yet to play a regular-season snap with the Ravens.
Browns to make "game-time decision" on Deshaun Watson, David Njoku out?
The Cleveland Browns listed QB Deshaun Watson as "questionable" for Sunday, and it's looking like his availability is coming down to a "game-time decision," per James Palmer of NFL Network.
#browns QB Deshaun Watson (throwing shoulder) is considered a game time decision but the expectation is he should be able to go vs the #ravens per source. They’ll see him throw pregame to give it the final go.
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) October 1, 2023
Watson is expected to play, but according to reports emerging late Saturday the Browns coaches plan to make the final decision right before kick-off and during pregame warmups.
In another bizarre news, the Browns might not have their starting tight end available on Sunday following injuries sustained by David Njoku on Friday.
Njoku is questionable after he suffered "burn injuries to his face and arm during a household accident," per Jake Trotter of ESPN.
According to Trotter, Njoku was "trying to light a fire pit Friday night." The Browns would use a combination of Jordan Akins and Harrison Bryant if Njoku misses Week 4.
If Watson cannot start against the Ravens, the Browns will deploy rookie quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who had a great preseason but is far from ready to get regular-season snaps according to Cleveland beat reporters.
That might explain why the Browns also activated veteran QB P.J. Walker for Sunday, making him the QB3/emergency quarterback for Week 4.