The Ravens captured their fourth straight win Sunday, but neither Ronnie Stanley nor Kyle Hamilton finished the game.
Hamilton went down first, limping off with a knee injury with just over 10 minutes left in the third quarter. On Baltimore's next possession, Stanley injured his left ankle, which was seriously injured in 2020.
Neither Hamilton nor Stanley returned to the 13-3 victory over the Carolina Panthers, and Head Coach John Harbaugh said he had not received any injury updates following the game. However, Lamar Jackson checked on Stanley after the game and was encouraged by what he heard from the All-Pro left tackle. Jackson rolled into Stanley's ankle as he was being sacked.
"I went in the locker room after the game and I checked on him, but he said he was pretty good, just don't fall into him," Jackson said. "But he's good."
Patrick Mekari took over for Stanley at left tackle and the Ravens put together two scoring drives to seal the victory. Right guard Kevin Zeitler said it should not be overlooked how fortunate the Ravens are to have a super sub like Mekari who can play all five offensive line positions when Stanley or other players go down.
Zeitler hoped that the long-term prognosis for Stanley would be positive. Stanley entered the medical tent after his injury, then limped to the locker room under his own power.
"Obviously Ronnie, you can't give him enough credit the way he fought back the past two years with multiple surgeries and everything," Zeitler said. "To come back and play as well as he was playing, the heart breaks. Obviously, nobody knows what's going on right now, but it's never fun watching your buddy go down like that. Huge shoutout to Pat Mekari. We are so lucky to have him on the team. His ability to play any position at any time is truly miracle-like ability."
Hamilton was the 14th overall pick in the draft and has played a major role in recent weeks as a nickel defensive back being deployed in a variety of ways. He played a season-high 75 percent of the defensive snaps in Week 9 against the Saints and had a season-high six tackles, and Hamilton has been a consistent contributor on special teams all season.
Hamilton's size and athleticism allow him to cover tight ends and bigger wide receivers in the slot, and he is also an effective run defender and blitzer. Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald has been pleased with Hamilton's recent play after some early season struggles.
"He's so big and takes up a lot of space," Macdonald said on Thursday. "He's very good on the perimeter game, the RPO [run-pass option] game on the perimeter, and obviously he's a good blitzer coming off the edge. Then if you need him to play deep zone...he's a safety by trade, so he can play back there, as well."
Chuck Clark and Geno Stone have been the starting safety duo since Marcus Williams suffered a fractured wrist in Week 5. Williams is expected to return perhaps in December, but if Hamilton were to miss time, Brandon Stephens could be called upon for more action in the safety rotation.
