The Ravens will be without a key piece of their defense Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
Pro Bowl defensive tackle Haloti Ngata is inactive because of a knee injury that he suffered last Sunday against the Bengals and forced him to miss the entire week of practice. This will be the first game of the season that Ngata has missed.
With Ngata out, the Ravens will likely turn to Terrence Cody, DeAngelo Tyson and Brandon Williams along the defensive line.
The Ravens are also without a key starter on offense, as wide receiver Marlon Brown is out because of a knee injury. Brown, who suffered a torn ACL last season, first appeared on the injury report Friday after sitting out practice.
The rookie wide receiver came onto the field Sunday before the game to run a few routes and test out his knee, but the Ravens ultimately determined that he was not able to play. Veteran wide receiver Brandon Stokley is also inactive because of a thigh injury that has sidelined him since Week 3.
Jacoby Jones will likely start in place of Brown, and the other active receiving options for the Ravens are Torrey Smith, Deonte Thompson and Tandon Doss.
The other inactives for the Ravens are safety Omar Brown, running back Bernard Scott, offensive lineman Ryan Jensen and outside linebacker John Simon.
While the Ravens are missing some key players, the good news was that starting middle linebacker Daryl Smith (thigh), cornerbacks Lardarius Webb (groin) and Jimmy Smith (groin) and safety James Ihedigbo (toe) are all active after being listed as questionable. Defensive end Chris Canty (knee) is also active after being probable on the final injury report.Â
The Bears are also dealing with some key injuries of their own.
The inactive players for Chicago are quarterback Jay Cutler (ankle), linebacker Lance Briggs (shoulder), defensive end Shea McClellin (hamstring), defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff (groin), long snapper Patrick Mannelly (calf), and offensive linemen James Brown and Jonathan Scott.
