HC John Harbaugh provides promising health update for Ravens
The Ravens had the opportunity to get healthier on their bye week during the wild-card round of the playoffs thanks to being the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Head coach John Harbaugh believes their week off has treated them well.
"We're pretty optimistic about everybody and varying degrees of optimism with certain guys," Harbaugh told reporters. "It's just like any week. You just have to see it unfold. Some guys are good to go. Other guys are going to be more day-by-day."
That's certainly music to the ears of all Baltimore fans who have had to watch their team head into the playoffs injury-riddled for the past couple of years. But that is not the case this time around.
Key players like WR Zay Flowers (calf), safety Kyle Hamilton (knee) and CB Marlon Humphrey (calf), who had been dealing with some bumps and bruises throughout the season, have been able to rest up for the past couple of weeks since the Ravens decided to sit them in Week 18.
The only thing that seems can stop Baltimore at this point is injuries and the team's health is certainly trending in the right direction ahead of the divisional round of the playoffs.
One player to keep an eye on is TE Mark Andrews, who was placed on injured reserve after suffering a cracked fibula and an ankle ligament injury in the Ravens' Week 11 win over the Bengals.
The three-time Pro Bowler was designated to return to practice last Friday and was reportedly "looking good moving around in warmups," per ESPN's Jamison Hensley.
"Same timetable that we were on. We're in that range," Harbaugh said. "Today was the first day. Did individual. That was it. So, we'll kind of ramp from there and get into next week and we'll have a better idea."
Only time will tell if Andrews can complete his comeback this week, but Baltimore seems to be in a great spot, nonetheless.
The Ravens will host the Texans if the Bills defeat the Steelers on Monday. But if Pittsburgh upsets Buffalo, Baltimore will instead face its AFC North rival for the third time this season next weekend.
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