Willis McGahee walked through the locker room Friday with large sunglasses hiding a cut on his right eyelid and what was a puffy left eye.
The injuries have also put a shade over whether the Pro Bowl running back will play Monday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The six-year veteran is listed as probable for Week 4, meaning there is a 75 percent chance he'll suit up.
"I'm feeling pretty good, only taking it day by day," McGahee said. "I don't know how it's going to be until you just go out there and try to practice and see what [happens] after that."
McGahee's eyelid was cut in the third quarter of Baltimore's 28-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns last Sunday, and then he was poked in the other eye later.
Considering McGahee wears a visor on his helmet, the incidents seemed fishy enough for head coach John Harbaugh to send film to the NFL office for a ruling on any malicious intent.
The Browns were cleared of wrongdoing Thursday afternoon.
McGahee has been limited in practice all week, but offensive coordinator Cam Cameron sounded hopeful that his top back would be ready.
"He's doing fine from what I can tell," Cameron explained. "His eye doesn't look great, but I think he's doing [OK]. He was OK in meetings today. He's getting ready to play; that's the important thing."
McGahee, who said he hasn't seen the game tapes, needed the sunglasses to counter the bright lights inside the Ravens' Owings Mills training facility.
If McGahee cannot play, rookie Ray Rice and fullback Le'Ron McClain will split the workload.
Gregg Vows a Return
After being diagnosed with a hole in his cartilage that required rest and extra treatment, defensive tackle Kelly Gregg is optimistic he'll be ready to play before the 2008 season is over.
Gregg injured his left knee in training camp, which led to a mid-August arthroscopic surgery. He attempted to return to the field for Baltimore's Week 3 contest, but was then declared out of the Browns and Steelers games.
"I had a setback a couple of weeks ago, but I'm working toward coming back," Gregg said.
"I took some injections and tried everything. There's really not much else you can do. Just treat it every day and hope it settles down."
The nine-year veteran is coming off a year where he topped 100 tackles for the fourth time in five seasons, a feat no other interior defensive lineman in the league has accomplished.
Additionally, Gregg has been supremely durable throughout his career. The last time he missed a game was during a two-week stint to kick off the 2004 campaign due to a knee injury.
"They shut me down last week," he explained. "It's a slow process. I've never dealt with anything like this."
In Gregg's place, Justin Bannan has filled in admirably. Bannan has eight tackles and one sack for a defense rated as the league's best unit.
Stover Looking to Bounce Back
Reliable kicker Matt Stover is currently 1-of-3 on field goal attempts, missing a 47-yarder wide right in Week 1 and bouncing a 48-yarder off the right upright in the Cleveland game.
Special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg is confident the 19-year veteran will return to form soon.
"I'm certainly concerned," Rosburg said. "I mean, we want to make every field goal we attempt. I realize that's not possible very often, [but] every once in a while it happens. I'd be more concerned if I didn't watch him every day in practice, and see him come out here every day and work on his skills and practice well."
Stover is the third-most accurate kicker in league history with an 83.5 percent success rate (436-of-522).
"He's kicked well through training camp, and I think what we've seen so far is two kicks that he didn't make," continued Rosburg. "He has analyzed them like Matt does. He's gone through them; he knows what happened. The good news is he knows how to fix it."
Injury Update
The Ravens will also be without cornerback Samari Rolle (shoulder/neck), quarterback Troy Smith (illness) and safety Dawan Landry (neck) in Monday's matchup.
Rolle was a limited participant during Wednesday and Thursday's practice sessions, but did not take the field Friday. He sustained a shoulder injury last week against the Browns.
Rolle will likely be replaced by a rotation of Frank Walker and Corey Ivy opposite Chris McAlister with the first-string.
Fabian Washington is also a possibility, although he's battled what he called a bulging disc in his neck all week. Washington is listed as probable, which means there is a 75-percent chance he'll play.
Smith just rejoined the practice field Monday after he was diagnosed with a tonsil infection before the Ravens' third preseason game on Aug. 23.
Notable
Baltimore is 4-6 all-time on Monday Night Football. In 2007, the Ravens were 0-3, falling to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and New England…The Ravens are rated fourth in the NFL in sack ratio, posting seven of their own while only giving up one…Baltimore Orioles pitcher Lance Cormier watched Friday's practice from the sideline as a guest of linebacker Jarret Johnson. Cormier and Johnson both went to the University of Alabama…Offensive guard/center Chris Chester wore No. 48 instead of his usual No. 65, perhaps signaling a change to tight end before the weekend. Chester participated in drills with the offensive linemen during the portion of practice open to the media…The Ravens put large speakers on the far practice field and pumped in simulated crowd noise to get the offense acclimated to a hostile road environment.
