Ravens activate more players off the COVID-19 List and have no new additions
After a little over a week of hell and uncertainty, the Baltimore Ravens appear to have their outbreak of COVID-19 within the organization under control. After eight consecutive days of having one or more players test positive for the virus, the team had no new cases on Tuesday.
Not only did the Ravens not have to place any more players on the Reserve/COVID-19 List for just the second time since last Monday, but they activated multiple players off the reserve list for the second day in a row.
Baltimore activated defensive tackle Brandon Williams, quarterback Trace McSorley and cornerbacks Tavon Young and Khalil Dorsey on Tuesday after activating outside linebacker Jaylon Ferguson, guard D.J. Fluker, defensive tackle Broderick Washington and cornerback Iman Marshall on Monday.
While all three of the defensive backs that were activated over the past two days revert back to injured reserve, all five of the other players are back on the active roster.
Williams is the only player of the five that returned to the active roster whose availability for Wednesday’s rescheduled game with the Pittsburgh Steelers is in question.
The Ravens have sorely missed their elite run-stuffing nose tackle after he sustained an ankle injury early in their Week 10 loss to the New England Patriots that also kept him out the team’s loss to the Tennessee Titans last week.
Baltimore gave up 173 yards rushing in both games and got severely gashed between the tackles where Williams starts and yields little to no ground.
McSorley’s activation means that he will likely serve as the primary backup to veteran Robert Griffin against the Steelers. The second-year signal-caller was a 2019 sixth-round pick out of Penn State and while he starred in the preseason as a rookie, he has yet to attempt a pass in a regular-season game.
The Ravens would’ve had to promote undrafted rookie Tyler Huntley to back up Griffin if both Lamar Jackson and McSorley weren’t available and still might utilize his first free callup as extra insurance for this game.
The team held a distanced walk-through/conditioning session at the Under Armour Performance Center on Monday night and had one last walk-through on Tuesday before traveling to Pittsburgh. It marked the first on-field work together in a week.
The last Ravens player to test positive for COVID-19 was cornerback Terrell Bonds, who suffered a knee injury and went on injured reserve earlier this month. He has already been away from the team in self-isolation.
