Getty Ravens OT Ronnie Stanley celebrates with Lamar Jackson in a regular season game on December 2, 2018.
For the first time in over a year, Baltimore Ravens All-Pro offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley was a full participant in practice on September 28. The franchise blindside protector was limited to just one game in 2021 after suffering a setback in his rehabilitation from a major ankle injury that required another surgery.
He has sat out the team’s first three games of the 2022 season despite having practiced albeit on a limited basis for the past three weeks. However, following this latest positive development, head coach John Harbaugh told reporters in his post-practice press conference that Stanley “could” make his debut in Week 4 when the Ravens host the Buffalo Bills in a huge AFC showdown that could have massive playoff implications down the road.
“It’s really just what we see certainly, and what he feels. Those are the two things that both have to be taken into account,” Harbaugh said. “Ronnie is not going to want to go out there, and we’re not going to want him to go out there if he doesn’t feel like he’s going to be good if he’s going to be ready to go. It’s a priority to go out there and be at his best when he comes back. At the same time, he’s going to have to jump in at some point, so it could be this week.
Stanley has been listed as doubtful to play on the final injury report for the past three weeks before being downgraded to out the day before the game. Harbaugh said that the team will make a decision on his final status for this week when the final injury report comes out on Friday.
Daniel Faalele ‘More Comfortable’ at Left Tackle
If Stanley doesn’t suit up for the fourth straight game, the Ravens will have to turn to the fourth-round rookie to protect Lamar Jackson‘s blindside. After playing right tackle exclusively throughout his football career dating back to high school, he was thrust into the starting lineup of the team’s Week 3 road win over the New England Patriots after Patrick Mekari went down in the first quarter with an ankle injury.
With Mekari expected to miss this week and maybe more with a sprain, Faalele could inline to make his first career start this Sunday against a ferocious Bills’ pass rush led by eight-time Pro Bowler and two-time Superbowl champion, Von Miller. Future Hall of Fame edge rusher would likely spend the majority of the game lined up across the less experienced or perceived to be more vulnerable tackle which is Faalele in this case.
However, after bouncing back from a rough start against the Patriots, the first-year pro has a raised level of comfort now that he got some live game reps on the opposite side than one he is accustomed to.
“(I’m) definitely more comfortable now after getting a game in,” Faalele said in a press conference on September 28, 2022. “I’ll be prepared for anything. Seeing it from a left tackle’s perspective as opposed to right tackle is very different.”
Another big boost to his comfortability level in playing the new position was the tremendous amount of faith and confidence of his teammates and coaches have in him to fill in and perform well.
“My teammates didn’t doubt me and gave me that confidence throughout the game,” Faalele said. “As each snap came, I felt like I was settling in. It started slowing down for me a lot.”
Rookie Center Has Impressed MVP Frontrunner
Faalele isn’t the Ravens’ only first-year offensive lineman that has looked impressive and earned the confidence of and received high praise from teammates and coaches. First-rounder Tyler Linderbaum is the new anchor in the middle of the offensive line as the starting center. After watching the tape of his most recent and best game thus far, Jackson was effusive in his praise of Linderbaum.
“You’ve got to watch the film; I can’t even describe how intense it was out there for him and how high he was performing,” Jackson said in a press conference on September 28, 2022. “It looked incredible – just to see a rookie out there doing what he’s doing. It looks like he’s been here before. He’s just got to keep doing what he’s doing and keep stacking.”
Do??? Do the Ravens have a really freaking good offensive line???
Powers played well. Linderbaum was awesome, laid a body to waste for at least the third time here.
Ricard ruining lives.
Physical. Fun!
Watch Linderbaum. Sheesh. Nasty young man.