Ravens Injured Weapon is Biggest Week 1 Concern

The Baltimore Ravens were about as healthy as they could have asked to be in their previous season, getting good attendance numbers out of just about every impact player on their roster.

Some of that good fortune was bound to regress to the mean in the following season when the team brought just about everyone back for another ride, and they've already been without a few key pieces throughout much of the final month of practice. While once-questionable pieces like Jaire Alexander have recently come up for air in limited appearances, a few Ravens have already been ruled out for Sunday's season opener.

Bleacher Report ran through the biggest problem every team is facing heading into their respective weekend debuts, and labeled the Isaiah Likely situation as Baltimore's biggest hurdle to overcome. He's been sidelined for weeks, and he will not play in Buffalo.

"A foot injury is almost certain to keep the tight end out of a critical Week 1 road matchup with the Bills, which is a tough break because the Ravens need as much firepower as they can get in Buffalo," Brad Gagnon wrote before Likely was officially ruled out. "Likely's absence will put extra pressure on a declining Mark Andrews, who committed a devastating drop to potentially cost the Ravens a playoff victory over the Bills just eight months ago."

Andrews, for the record, slumped out to a memorably slow start last season before finishing strong, securing a career-high 11 touchdowns in receiving less attention than he's grown accustomed to. Debate centered around his potential bounce-back has grown more necessary with the Likely development, with the older Andrews having to spend more time as the go-to tight end while they see what they've got with Charlie Kolar.