John Harbaugh Essentially Calls Ravens Explosive Weapon a Luxury

"You just can't get everybody up [on the gameday roster]," Harbaugh said Monday. "You've got to make a decision about who's going to be up and who's going to be down, and the number of snaps you can get Keaton [Mitchell] in on offense are pretty limited."

After making the team as an undrafted rookie out of East Carolina in 2023, Mitchell took the league by storm for a brief stretch during his first season before suffering a major knee injury that took more than a year and a half to fully recover from. He was averaging 8.4 yards per carry and 10.3 yards per reception and had a streak going of at least one play from scrimmage from 20-plus yards before he got hurt.

It was clear from his performance on offense and special teams last year when Mitchell returned to action that he wasn't fully recovered and was missing the next gear that made him electrifyingly explosive in his first season. When healthy, he possesses 4.34 speed and has gone on record several times over the course of the summer, saying he feels even faster than ever heading into this year.

Mitchell is a big-play threat every time he touches the ball. In Week 1 of this year's preseason, he reminded the Ravens and everyone else how he not only regained his final gear of breakaway speed but also showed that he can run with improved power with a potent performance where he led the team with 68 rushing yards on only 9 carries. He averaged 7.6 yards per carry, scored a touchdown and recorded a long run of 23 yards in a 24-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

In the week of leading up to the Bills game, Mitchell wasn't just a full participant in practice but he wasn't even listed on the injury report. In his absence for the bulk of last season, the Ravens fielded one of the best running back tandems in the league with five-time Pro Bowler Derrick Henry, who finished second in the league in rushing yards and seventh-year veteran Justice Hill, who is one of the best third-down backs.

Harbaugh expressed that the Ravens believed the limited handful of offensive snaps Mitchell would be on the field for, which he described as "designer plays," would potentially telegraph their intentions to the opposing defense.

"That's what Keaton does right now – he runs kind of the designer plays," Harbaugh said. "The defense is going to be like, 'What's he out here for?' on the four or five plays that he's out there. It's going to be a specific play that they kind of have their antennas up for. You've got to balance it out."

The Ravens still had a third running back active with second-year pro Rasheen Ali getting the nod over Mitchell because he offers more value on special teams as a kick returner as well as on coverage units. His 21 snaps in the third phase of the game tied for the third-most on the team, and he got to carry the ball once for 5 yards on his lone offensive snap.

"He does OK in special teams," Harbaugh said of Mitchell. "He'll tell you he needs to get better in that area to justify the spot. Otherwise, you're going light in a couple other areas."

Even without Mitchell, the Ravens offense put up prolific production and efficiency. However, the rationale of having another offensive skill position player who isn't nearly as dangerous a weapon as second-year wide receiver Devontez Walker and undrafted rookie linebacker Jay Higgins, both of whom played exclusively on special teams over him, only to have the team struggle in that area of the game anyway, doesn't make much sense in hindsight.