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Even though the Baltimore Ravens signed veteran wide receiver Dez Bryant this week, there are no guarantees he’ll actually see the field in any game. Baltimore appears to be taking a more cautious approach to Bryant’s status, signing him to the practice squad instead of the 53-man roster.
Many fans were excited when the team announced they added Bryant and it’s easy to see why. When thinking back to Bryant’s prime, it’s easy to get lost in the possibilities. He topped 1,200 receiving yards and 12 touchdown receptions in three separate years with the Dallas Cowboys, from 2012-2014. Even in his final two years in Dallas, Bryant was still a productive player, putting up a combined 119 receptions for 1,634 yards and 14 touchdowns.
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However, he’s no spring chicken anymore at nearly 32 years old. That would be enough to give pause by itself, but he’s been out of football following the 2017 season and is coming off an Achilles tear in 2018. It’s beyond rare for a player to come back after sitting out for nearly three years and be highly productive.
When asked about the team’s plan for Bryant moving forward, Harbaugh took a pretty conservative and guarded approach.
“We’ll just see where he’s at. He hasn’t played for how many years? So, we’ll see where he’s at. I mean, there’s a lot to learn,” Harbaugh said Wednesday. “He’s on our practice squad roster, which means he’s available to us. So, when and if he’s ready to go, he’ll be out there. It’s really that simple.”
This could just be Harbaugh’s gamesmanship coming out. He has had a tendency in the past to be very opaque about things like playing time and injuries at times. Giving a more firm timetable for Bryant’s return to the field could allow teams to better gameplan for him, taking away any competitive edge Baltimore might have there.
Or Harbaugh could be taking a more conservative approach to Bryant’s status because they don’t really know what they’ve got yet. Though the Ravens brought Bryant in for two separate workouts this season, signing him to the practice squad is an indication he’s not quite ready to play. That might be a matter of getting him acclimated with the offense and quarterback Lamar Jackson, or it could be the team wondering if he’s truly any better than guys like Miles Boykin and Willie Snead right now.
Unfortunately, Harbaugh didn’t make any of this clearer. So, we’ll all have to wait until he either makes his debut in a game or not.
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