The Baltimore Ravens have had a few bumps and bruises throughout training camp. Luckily (knock on wood), the Ravens have been fortunate to not have too many major injuries or too many injuries to key players. In fact, Baltimore actually returned outside linebacker Jaylon Ferguson to practice on Friday, according to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley.
Ferguson missed the first three padded practices of training camp with an undisclosed injury. While coach John Harbaugh said Monday the injury was “just normal training camp-type stuff,” Baltimore is expecting big things from Ferguson this year and needs him to get as many reps in practice as possible to live up to it. With a shortened offseason due to the coronavirus pandemic, every single practice carries a lot of importance.
The Ravens are Ferguson develops into a fearsome pass rusher this season. By not addressing outside linebacker through free agency or the 2020 NFL Draft, Baltimore effectively indicated they felt their young guys will develop into their roles and have more of an impact this season. While Tyus Bowser has impressed early at training camp, Ferguson’s absence has been noticed after such an impressive ramp-up period.
Defensive coordinator Don Martindale heaped heavy praise on Ferguson in the early stages of training camp. Martindale specifically called out Ferguson’s development in the second half of last season and said the full offseason of training has him starting off strong this year. With Ferguson getting back on the practice field in pads, the hope is he’ll continue to make strides in his development and become the impact player Baltimore saw when they selected him in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Ravens only saw Ferguson return to practice, still having wide receivers Chris Moore and Antoine Wesley, and tight end Eli Wolf out with their respective injuries. Late in practice, return specialist Kenjon Barner limped off the field after a big hit and didn’t return, according to Aaron Kasinitz of Penn Live. No update was given about his condition, however, so we’ll see if Barner returns to practice this weekend.