The Ravens' chief goal Sunday was to put themselves in the best position for the playoffs.
In large part, that meant staying healthy.
Even though the Ravens took a 23-17 loss in Cincinnati, they still achieved the second part of their goal.
"Injury wise, there's nothing to speak of of consequence," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "The guys that came out, Vonta [Leach] and Kelechi [Osemele], should be fine for next week."
Leach left after the second play of the game. He took a pass in the flats and was hit hard low by Bengals safety Reggie Nelson. Medical attendants looked at Leach's lower leg.
An ankle injury has limited the Ravens' Pro Bowl fullback during the past four weeks.
Leach walked gingerly to the sidelines, went to the locker room and did not return to action. He was replaced at fullback by blocking tight end Billy Bajema.
Rookie right tackle Kelechi Osemele also exited the game in the first half with a leg injury. He limped off the field and walked to the locker room.
Osemele was replaced by Michael Oher at right tackle and Bryant McKinnie moved to left tackle.
"I'm good," Osemele said after the game. "I feel pretty good. With the game next week they didn't want to put me back up."
Baltimore gave extra rest to banged-up players by deactivating linebacker Ray Lewis (triceps), outside linebacker Terrell Suggs (biceps), defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (knee), wide receiver Anquan Boldin (shoulder), guard Marshal Yanda (shoulder/knee), safety Bernard Pollard (ribs) and wide receiver Tandon Doss (ankle). The team also pulled several other healthy starters, including quarterback Joe Flacco and running back Ray Rice, after the second series of the game.
Thus, the Ravens should go into the playoffs with a healthier roster than they've had for much of the season.
"Our main goal was to get guys back healthy; that was goal No. 1," Rice said.
"This team's getting healthy and we're going to hit our stride going forward in the playoffs."
