News

J. Smith Ruled Out

The Ravens will have to adjust to life without cornerback Jimmy Smith this weekend.

Baltimore’s top cornerback suffered an ankle injury in the loss to the New England Patriots, and he has been ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“The other guys are getting ready to play this week, and going forward, we’ll just have to see where we’re at,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said.

Smith’s absence does not come as a surprise considering he didn’t practice all week. The Ravens will now likely re-insert Shareece Wright into the starting lineup opposite of Tavon Young.

Despite losing Smith, the Ravens emphasized all week that they still have high expectations for their defense.

“[Confidence is] as high as it’s ever been,” safety Eric Weddle said. “We’re not worried about who is going to play or who is not going to play. We’ll play with the guys we have out there. We’ll be ready. We’re going to be honed in on what they’re going to be doing. We’re going to play outstanding and hopefully have a great game.”

Another uncertainty in the secondary is whether slot cornerback Jerraud Powers (concussion) will be ready to play. He practiced all week as a limited participant and is listed as questionable to play.

He has to be cleared through the NFL’s concussion protocol to return to the lineup. If Powers were to miss the game, then the Ravens would likely have to get creative in the secondary by potentially moving safety Lardarius Webb or Matt Elam to the nickel role.

Lewis, Gillmore Could Both Return

A pair of former starters on offense could both be ready to return this weekend.

Offensive lineman Alex Lewis (ankle) and tight end Crockett Gillmore (thigh) both practiced all week and are questionable to play. Lewis missed the last four games with a high ankle sprain and Gillmore has missed six games because of a nagging hamstring issue.

Gillmore was limited in practice Wednesday and Thursday, but upgraded to a full participant Friday. The fact that he practiced all week is a good sign that he’s ready to go, if the Ravens want to make him active this weekend. Darren Waller and Nick Boyle have emerged during the time that Gillmore has been injured, so it’s unclear exactly how the Ravens will split the reps when Gillmore returns.

Lewis’ role is also uncertain because veteran Marshal Yanda has taken over as the starting left guard, and Yanda can’t move back to his usual right guard spot because of a shoulder injury. The Ravens could keep Lewis as a reserve, or they could try him at right guard if they wanted to replace Vladimir Ducasse in the lineup.

The only other player on the injury report for Baltimore is special teamer Anthony Levine (toe), who is questionable to play.

Eagles Rule Out Two Players

The Eagles ruled out running back Darren Sproles (concussion) and starting right tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai (knee).

They also have a few other players dealing with injuries whose status is up in the air. Wide receivers Dorial Green Beckham (abdomen) and Jordan Matthews (ankle), linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill (illness), tight end Brent Celek (stinger) and guard Allen Barbre (hamstring) are all listed as questionable to play.