Jaire Alexander has been scratched from the Ravens' home opener against the Cleveland Browns Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.
While Alexander entered the game without an injury designation, the Ravens are giving the veteran cornerback a chance to get physically stronger after he missed a month of training camp managing his knee.
Head Coach John Harbaugh said he had a conversation with Alexander about it this week after Alexander had a rough Ravens debut in Buffalo. Alexander surrendered three catches for 100 yards, per Pro Football Focus, and had a costly fourth-down defensive pass interference penalty. He was beaten on the play that put the Bills in position for their game-winning field goal.
"Practice is important, especially at that position, for just being exactly right," Harbaugh said Wednesday. "The main thing right now is just to get him right. He's healthy enough, but we have to get him right so we can go out there and play like Jaire Alexander, which I fully expect him to do. We'll just give him an opportunity to do that."
Alexander's absence puts second-year cornerback T.J. Tampa Jr. in position to have a bigger role against the Browns. The Ravens were excited to get Tampa in the fourth round of the draft last year, but injuries limited him to just seven games.
Perhaps no player got his hands on the ball more often this summer in practice than Tampa, who played 18 defensive snaps in the Ravens' opener in Buffalo and had two tackles.
"He's doing a good job. [He] looks good," Harbaugh said Friday. "He had a good week of practice this week. [He's had a] good week of practice the last couple of weeks."
The Ravens' other inactives are running back Keaton Mitchell for a second straight week, fullback Patrick Ricard (calf), tight end Isaiah Likely (foot), offensive tackle Carson Vinson, and outside linebacker David Ojabo.
Undrafted rookie safety Reuben Lowery III will make his debut, taking Alexander's spot on the active gameday roster. The Ravens have five cornerbacks active against the Browns.
The Browns will be without their starting right tackle, two-time first-team All Pro Jack Conklin (eye/elbow). That leaves Cornelius Lucas as the starter.
Rookie running back Quinshon Judkins, the 36th-overall pick in this year's draft, will make his Browns debut after missing nearly all of training camp and meeting with league officials this week about domestic assault charges. He's awaiting a possible suspension but is eligible to play Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.
