Ravens’ John Harbaugh Gave an Update After WR Left Practice With Injury

There are typically two main goals for teams during training camp and preseason and that is to; 1) gel and build team chemistry for the upcoming season and 2) make it through the preseason with as few of injuries as possible to your key players. The Baltimore Ravens have a few players that have been maligned by the injury bug recently and they got a minor scare regarding starting WR Rashod Bateman.

The Athletics’ Jeff Zrebiec, who covers the Ravens, posted on Monday, July 29, “Ravens just wrapped up practice. WR Rashod Bateman jogged to locker room about an hour in and didn’t return. He got tangled up with CB Ka’Dar Holman on a one-on-one rep.”

Bateman has had injury history for the majority of his short career, but the hope was that he had put that in his past after a mostly healthy 2023. Bateman is currently the No. 2 WR on the depth chart and expected to have a major role in this offense.

Head coach John Harbaugh gave an update to reporters after practice and said, “I don’t think it’s a serious thing, just a little soreness you know.”

Given his history, the Ravens will play it safe this early in training camp with Bateman as they hope he will live up to his first-round pedigree and give QB Lamar Jackson another major target.

WR Rashod Bateman’s Career Has Been Injury-Plagued

The cautious approach is needed if Bateman is to make it through the long season without suffering a significant injury. Bateman was a star in college and when he was drafted by the Ravens in the first-round of the 2021 draft, the expectation was that he would form a dynamic duo with Marquise Brown.

Bateman immediately started his career with an injury that forced him to miss his first five games. He was able to play the remainder of the season and put-up modest numbers for a rookie with 46 catches for 515 receiving yards.

Unfortunately, those modest numbers as a rookie still stand as career highs to this point in his short career.

His sophomore season actually started strong, through four games he had 11 catches, 243 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. He then began dealing with a foot injury that forced him to miss two games before his ultimately shut it down in Week 9.

It was a blow to the young receiver as looked to make his mark in the Ravens offense. 2023 was his healthiest season in the NFL as he only missed one game but over 16 games, he was not able to make a statistical mark.

Bateman found himself buried in the depth chart and only had 32 catches for 367 yards.

Ravens’ Receiving Corps Needs Bateman to Step Up

At only 24-years-old it would be foolish for the Ravens to give up on the Minnesota product, but this will be an important season for Bateman.

The Ravens gave the receiver a 2-year, $12.8 million extension during the offseason, which will probably be the make-it or break-it window for his time in Baltimore.

In 2023 he was buried in the depth chart, but with Odell Beckham Jr. leaving for the Miami Dolphins there is a significant role open in this offense. WR Zay Flowers after a successful rookie season is the no. 1 receiver in this offense but behind him there will be question marks at the WR position.

The Ravens also brought back Nelson Agholor and drafted Devontez Walker from the University of North Carolina, but Bateman has the skillset to be the most useful for the Ravens’ offense.

If Bateman were to struggle or go down with an injury, general manager Eric DeCosta could be scrambling to find someone to line up next to Flowers.