Ravens All Pro Defender's Injury Details Revealed

Both Smith and Humphrey exited the Ravens' deflating Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the first half after they each gave up multiple plays in coverage. They each allowed a key first-down conversion to tight end Travis Kelce for 10-plus yards and they let Patrick Mahomes zip a 4-yard touchdown pass between them in the red zone on the play Humphrey got hurt in the second quarter.

During a press conference, head coach John Harbaugh provided specific details on the play he believes Smith got hurt and how it was a routine play that had an unfortunate result.

"Roquan was accelerating the go cover the pass to Kelce, and what a throw and catch [it was], and he got him down, and that's when it happened," Harbaugh said. "He was at 95% of his full speed when it happened, and I'm sure he extended to make the tackle; I assume that's when it happened."

"It's just the violent nature of the game and the exertion that these guys put in from play-to-play over the course of a game is pretty incredible."

The Ravens were forced to move fourth-round rookie starter Teddye Buchanan to the MIKE linebacker spot to take over for Smith after he went out and brought benched third-year pro Trenton Simpson on the field to play WILL. They also had to turn over the green dot play calling duties to All Pro safety Kyle Hamilton.

The young and inexperienced pairing continued to struggle in the coverage when it came to getting proper depth in their drops and kept betting balls thrown over their heads, including one for a touchdown. By the end of the game, Buchanan got subbed out for special teams ace Jake Hummel, who wound up playing 28 defensive snaps, which were a season-high for him and the second-most he's ever played in his career.

Despite missing the entire second half, Smith still led the Ravens in total tackles (34), solo tackles (24) and tackles for loss (4) through the first four games in addition to being tied for the second-most quarterback hits (3) and having a fumble return of a touchdown.

With the eighth-year veteran out of commission, Simpson is the Ravens' next most experienced off-ball linebacker with 14 career starts, but he has been benched twice in his first three seasons. The Ravens have no other choice but to play a combination or rotation of him, Buchanan, Hummel and maybe even give undrafted rookie Jay Higgins IV a chance to prove himself after being one of the stars of the team's brightest in preseason.

Hamilton is the last All Pro left standing, with Smith and Humphrey out in the immediate future and defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike on season-ending injured reserve with a neck injury. Not only will he be counted on to continuing relaying the play calls from defensive coordinator Zach Orr to the rest of the defense, but he'll need to be more of a vocal leader and physical tone setter on the field as well.