Isaiah Likely Reportedly Suffered Fractured Foot, Could Return for Week 1
The big story from Tuesday's practice was that tight end Isaiah Likely suffered an injury on the last play of the day. ESPN’s Jamison Hensley and Jeremy Fowler reported Wednesday morning that it's a small fracture in his foot.
"According to sources, if all goes well in Likely's recovery, he is expected to return early in the season," Hensley and Fowler wrote. "It's possible Likely could be back for the Ravens' Sept. 7 opener at the Buffalo Bills."
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that Likely will undergo surgery later this week to fix the broken foot. Rapoport added that the belief is that Likely will miss about six weeks, though he could miss less time depending on his recovery.
There is another bit of news concerning Likely. Rapoport reported that the Ravens and Likely have discussed a contract extension, but a deal is "not imminent."
"My understanding is that things are not close," Rapoport said.
As noted in Late for Work last week, tight end Jake Ferguson's four-year, $52 million contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys could factor into the negotiations of Likely's next contract.
Marlon Humphrey Opens Up About Difficulty of Getting Over Playoff Loss to Bills
The Ravens have had to hear about their heartbreaking, two-point loss to the Bills in the divisional round all offseason, and the talk will only intensify in the lead-up to the season-opener in Buffalo.
Cornerback Marlon Humphrey opened up about how he and some of his teammates initially dealt with the disappointment before ultimately putting it behind them.
"This year was probably the hardest [loss to get over] because I lived here full-time," Humphrey said on “The Mina Kimes Show.” "I think for maybe two weeks straight, me, the weight room guys, some of the equipment guys, we'd literally go into the weight room to work out, an hour goes by, and I don't know if any of us even worked out because we were just talking about, 'What could we have done different? What could we do next year?' It was pretty tough to get over it. Not from like, 'I'm down, I'm sad.' You're just confused. 'What happened?'
"It gets hard to figure out, honestly. It's just tough. From a fan perspective, it's like, 'How can these guys just move on?' Still thinking about that loss is not good. You have to do something. Everyone's like, 'Crap, I need to go take a trip.'"
Secondary Is Named Ravens' Biggest Weakness?!
Humphrey is a key component of a star-studded secondary that is regarded by some as the best in the league.
Not everyone is high on the unit, however. Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine identified every team's biggest weakness, and the secondary was his choice for the Ravens.
"The Ravens secondary has stars," Ballentine wrote. "Kyle Hamilton is an All-Pro and probably hasn't even reached his peak. Marlon Humphrey earned All-Pro honors last season and snagged a career-high six interceptions. Unfortunately, the answers outside of that duo are a little less defined.
"Nate Wiggins looked the part at times last year. Veterans Jaire Alexander and Chidobe Awuzie will need to provide the depth the Ravens didn't have last season. The safety depth could be even more critical. Ar'Darius Washington is starting the season on the Physically Unable to Perform List. Malaki Starks will need to be a Day 1 difference-maker."
I'm not sure Ballentine really made a strong case for the secondary being the weak link. The fact that the unit is even in the conversation speaks volumes to just how loaded the Ravens' roster is.
Pundit Predicts Ravens Will Win Super Bowl This Season
Training camp just started last week, but some pundits are already making Super Bowl predictions.
Yahoo! Sports’ Frank Schwab put the Ravens at No. 2 in his power rankings behind the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, but he believes Baltimore will take home the Lombardi Trophy.
"The Ravens were excellent by the end of last season, but they know that some weird losses (how did this team lose to the Raiders and Browns?) cost them in seeding, which maybe was the difference in that playoff loss to the Bills," Schwab wrote. "I expect a focused Ravens team from Week 1, when they have a titanic matchup at Buffalo.
"Jackson might not win an NFL MVP award this season, because there seems to be some pushback against him getting his third. But he'll win something even better for his place in the game's history: Super Bowl LX MVP."
The Ravens are the Super Bowl betting favorite and have the best chance to win it all based on DVOA projections.
Schwab said injuries might be the only thing that could dash the Ravens' championship aspirations.
"The Ravens had only 16.3 adjusted games lost due to injury via FTN Fantasy. That was less than half of the team that had the second-best games lost to injury last season, which was the Eagles at 33.7," Schwab wrote. "According to FTN's Aaron Schatz, it's the fewest AGL to injury since the 2017 Falcons. That will not repeat. So if you want to be skeptical of the Ravens being a Super Bowl champion, it's that they're due for many more injuries this season."
Tyler Linderbaum Among Top 10 Candidates for Protector of the Year Award
NFL.com’s Nick Shook named the top 10 candidates for the inaugural Protector of the Year award, which will honor the league's top blocker, and center Tyler Linderbaum came in at No. 9.
"The Ravens needed to solidify the center spot after a few years of instability and received exactly what they wanted in Linderbaum, who was just a top-three player at the position, according to PFF, in only his third professional season," Shook wrote. "Linderbaum was the pivot of the NFL's most explosive offense in 2024 and returns to a group that is expected to produce a sequel that is just as good, if not better. Baltimore will be in the spotlight, and Linderbaum should receive recognition for it."
