News

The Ravens will wait to unveil their latest free-agent signing.

Veteran pass rusher Jason Babin is inactive for Sunday’s matchup with the Raiders. The move is somewhat surprising, as Head Coach John Harbaugh said Babin had shown enough in practice this week to be activated just five days after signing.

The Ravens opted instead to play rookie outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith, who will make his NFL debut.

Running back Lorenzo Taliaferro and defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan will also play their first game of the season. They both missed last week because of knee injuries, but they practiced throughout the week and were probable to play.

Jernigan is expected to start and Taliaferro will back up starter Justin Forsett.

The other scratches for the Ravens are left tackle Eugene Monroe, wide receiver Breshad Perriman, cornerback Rashaan Melvin, running back Terrence Magee and defensive linemen Kapron Lewis-Moore and Christo Bilukidi.

With Monroe out, second-year lineman James Hurst will get the start at left tackle.

Perriman was ruled out coming into the game after missing another week of practice, but he did show signs of development when working out on the field pre-game. Perriman jogged a series of 100-yard intervals during warmups, which he had not done in previous games.

For the Raiders, their biggest question marks coming into the game are both active. Starting quarterback Derek Carr is activate despite suffering an injury to his throwing hand last week. Veteran safety Charles Woodson is also active after being listed as questionable with a shoulder issue.

The inactives for Oakland are cornerback Dexter McDonald, fullback Jamize Olawale, guard Jon Feliciano, wide receiver Rod Streater and defensive linemen Justin Ellis and Benson Mayowa.