Ravens head coach John Harbaugh defends playing J.K. Dobbins in preseason finale

Baltimore Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins will miss the entire 2021 season due to the torn ACL he suffered in Saturday's preseason-closing victory over the Washington Football Team. 

Per Jamison Hensley of ESPN, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh told reporters Monday that "it's a fair conversation" to ask if he should've sat Dobbins for all of Saturday's meaningless contest but also compared his handling of the roster during the preseason to approaches embraced by other coaches. 

"But there are other teams that don't play their guys at all," Harbaugh explained. "They don't play their starters for one snap. We are probably as close to that as we've... I know we're farther down that road than we've ever been. We played our guys so little this offseason. It's just been how we've done it. But anytime a guy gets hurt, you ask yourself those questions."

The Ravens have been linked with veteran free agent ball-carrier Todd Gurley by multiple outlets, but Harbaugh suggested current Baltimore running backs Gus Edwards and Ty'Son Williams can produce enough to make up for Dobbins' absence. 

Baltimore begins the regular season at the Las Vegas Raiders in a "Monday Night Football" showdown on Sept. 13.