A total of 17 players sat out Friday's training camp practice because of injuries, and Head Coach John Harbaugh provided an update on the following:
Arthur Jones: The third-year defensive lineman missed practice on Thursday and Friday with a hip injury. Jones had an MRI to determine the severity of the injury.
"He has a hip flexor issue that he's been fighting through for the last couple of days so he decided to get it looked at," Harbaugh said. "I have not heard the results of that yet. I don't expect it to be serious but we wanted to check it out and make sure."
Harbaugh did not provide a timetable for how long Jones will be out.
Matt Birk:The Ravens center has been held out of practice all week after Harbaugh said that the 15-year veteran would probably sit out more than he practiced during training camp to keep him fresh.
In addition to getting Birk some rest, Harbaugh also said Friday that Birk is dealing with some back spasms.
"Matt has had the back spasms, but I am going to probably slow him down a little bit more, especially this week and then maybe next week after the game we will get him back a little bit more," Harbaugh said.
With the timetable that Harbaugh provided, Birk could miss the preseason opener in Atlanta next Thursday.
Jimmy Smith: The second-year cornerback sat out on Friday after leaving Thursday's practice early with a back injury.
"Jimmy's back locked up," Harbaugh said. "It's all muscular. It's stuff that happened to him in college before. It takes a couple days usually for that to loosen up."
Vonta Leach: The Pro Bowl fullback didn't practice on Friday because of a sore back. This was the first practice that Leach has missed during camp.
"I held him out," Harbaugh said. "His back started to tighten up too, so I held him out a little bit. That's part of the camp deal, especially those guys who are a little bit older."
Note: In addition to Jones, Birk, Smith and Leach, the other players who sat out Friday included wide receivers Tandon Doss (hamstring), David Reed (ACL surgery) and Patrick Williams (unknown), running back Bernard Pierce (hamstring), lineman Jah Reid (calf strain), linebackers Courtney Upshaw (shoulder), Josh Bynes (unknown), Terrell Suggs (Achilles) and Dannel Ellerbe (unknown), cornerbacks Asa Jackson (unknown) and Cary Williams (unknown), kicker Billy Cundiff (day off) and tight end Dennis Pitta (hand).
