The Ravens may have avoided a crisis with an injury to running back Ray Rice.
The Pro Bowl running back went down with a hip injury in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against Cleveland and Head Coach John Harbaugh classified the injury as a "strain."
"Ray had a hip flexor strain, and right now is not scheduled for an MRI, but we'll see how that goes overnight," Harbaugh said after the 14-6 victory.
Rice suffered the injury on a run early in the fourth quarter; he fell to the turf while trying to make a cut upfield. He was not touched by a defender on the play.
"He might have gone down to protect himself too," Harbaugh said. "We'll just have to see. We're confident and optimistic right now, but we'll have to see tomorrow how it responds."
Rice did not return, but did walk back onto the field and watched the end of the game from the sidelines.
Rice finished the day with 13 carries for 36 yards. After his injury, the Ravens turned to second-year back Bernard Pierce to run down the clock and pick up first downs. Pierce had 19 carries for 57 yards on the day.
In addition to Rice, the Ravens also had three other players leave the game early with injuries.
Defensive lineman Chris Canty (groin), linebacker Arthur Brown (pectoral) and cornerback Chykie Brown (knee) all suffered strains, Harbaugh said.
Canty and Arthur Brown both went down in the second half and did not return. They are scheduled to undergo MRI's tomorrow.
Chykie Brown is also scheduled to get an MRI tomorrow.
"It's probably a strain of some kind," Harbaugh said. "We don't think there's any damage in there but you never know."
