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Ravens coach John Harbaugh on Monday said “there’s a chance” that left tackle Ronnie Stanley could play in the season opener against the New York Jets on Sept. 11.
Harbaugh did not comment further on Stanley’s status for Week 1, citing “strategic reasons.”
Stanley, sidelined by ankle injuries over the past two years, was removed from the physically-unable-to-perform list after passing his physical Friday, but the 2019 All-Pro didn’t practice Monday. Harbaugh said he could be on the field Tuesday.
“They have a [rehabilitation] plan in there, and they’re working him back in,” Harbaugh said. “So when he’s out there in individuals, we will start coaching him.”
Harbaugh said last week that, in workouts with the team’s athletic training staff, Stanley “looks like he’s in really good shape.”
After a breakout 2019, Stanley played in just six games in 2020, with his last coming two days after he signed a five-year contract extension that made him one of the NFL’s highest-paid offensive linemen. His season-ending left ankle injury in November 2020 required two operations and delayed his return to training camp until last summer.
Stanley started in the Ravens’ 2021 season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders but struggled in the overtime loss. It was his first and last game of the season, as he was placed on injured reserve after undergoing his second season-ending ankle surgery on Oct. 19.
If Stanley is unavailable against the Jets, veteran Ja’Wuan James would most likely start at left tackle. Even though James took the majority of the Ravens’ first-team repetitions at left tackle during the preseason, he hasn’t played since 2019 after opting out of the 2020 season because of coronavirus concerns and then tearing his Achilles tendon in May 2021.
Extra points
- Outside linebacker Tyus Bowser (Achilles tendon), who’ll miss at least four games after being placed on the reserve/physically-unable-to-perform list Friday, “looks really good,” Harbaugh said. But Harbaugh acknowledged that Bowser, who led the team in sacks in 2021, has “got to feel right” before he can play. “We’re not going to put a player out there until he feels right, he’s confident and all those kinds of things. But as far as all the measurables, he looks really good, and I’m confident that when he comes back, he’s going to have a great year.”
- J.K. Dobbins “had a good practice” Monday, Harbaugh said, but he declined to speculate on the running back’s Week 1 availability. If Dobbins is unavailable, Harbaugh said “we have the guys that will play. So we’re good either way.”
- Cornerback Kevon Seymour sprained his ankle in Saturday’s preseason finale against the Washington Commanders and will likely miss “a few weeks.” Harbaugh was optimistic about reuniting with Seymour, who could be released during Tuesday’s roster cut-down. “We’ll have him sometime early in the season.”
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