The Baltimore Ravens went into New England and won 37-26 in Week 3 of the 2022 season. They improved their record to 2-1 on the year, but it didn’t come without some losses from an injury perspective. Offensive lineman Patrick Mekari suffered an ankle injury, and was replaced by rookie Daniel Faalele at left tackle.
He ended up holding his own after only playing right tackle in college at the University of Minnesota. When Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh spoke to the media about Faalele stepping up during the game, he praised Faalele for settling and getting his confidence in the second half.
Coach Harbaugh on Daniel Faalele stepping up: pic.twitter.com/kSUr63PeVj
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 26, 2022
“Right, [that’s] probably a really good point you’re making. As the game went on, he really settled in. He never played left tackle in a game before in his life. So, to go out there and get a feel … The two rushers they had, obviously, coming off the edges, were both very good football players. It just seemed to me that once he kind of got settled down … A loud stadium, silent count – [he] really hadn’t been practicing the silent count all week with the ‘ones’ – once he kind of got the timing of that down and got a feel for the speed of the game, he seemed to get his confidence into the second half where I think he felt like he belonged out there and started playing really well. So, that was a big plus for us. The whole offensive line played extremely well, and he’s kind of a good example of that.”
It’s unclear if Faalele will have to start again in Week 4 against the Buffalo Bills, but he showed plenty of potential over the course of his snaps in Week 3. The team could potentially get back fellow offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley for their upcoming matchup, which would be a big get for a Buffalo team that has outside linebacker Von Miller.