It’s no secret that the Baltimore Ravens’ roster was decimated by injuries over the course of the entire 2021 season. The team had to continuously find new ways to maximize their depleting depth in order to try and win games, and ultimately finished the year at 8-9 while missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
Three of the top players on the team to miss most, if not all, of the season were running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, as well as offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley. Following the final day of Baltimore’s mandatory minicamp, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh provided updates on each of the three players, saying that they’re all doing great.
Yes, Ronnie [Stanley] is … I’d say they’re all on schedule, but what is the schedule? The knee injuries are a little tougher to say what the schedule really is. So, [if] you talk to J.K. [Dobbins], he’s the starting running back today, [and] he should have been practicing today, but he’s got work to do still, [and] so does Gus [Edwards]. But they’re both doing great. We’ll see how they look when they come back and all that. Ronnie [Stanley’s] ankle is looking great. Ronnie’s mission right now would be to get in the best shape of his life and get ready to play football, and that’s what he’s been working on.”
Dobbins and Edwards both suffered torn ACL injuries right before the 2021 season was slated to begin, while Stanley only played in one game last year due to the ankle injury he suffered in 2020. Baltimore’s offense missed each of their skillsets in a big way.
It’s important that each is able to return to the field at full strength and not be rushed back, and it seems as if the Ravens are taking the cautious approach, which is the smart thing to do. It sounds like the recoveries of Dobbins, Edwards and Stanley are going well, but Harbaugh said that although each has a chance to return for the start training camp, it’s too early to tell if any of them actually will.