The Ravens are close to getting top wide receiver Rashod Bateman back on the field, Head Coach John Harbaugh said Monday.
Bateman has missed the past two games as he's dealt with a sprained foot suffered in Week 4 against the Bills.
"You guys are going to say, 'You always say that,' but he's close. He's close," Harbaugh said. "We're close on a lot of guys. I'm looking forward to all those guys getting back. We'll be talking about him this week, we'll be talking about him on Thursday."
Bateman still has the second-most receiving yards (243) on the team behind Mark Andrews. He was the team's chief big-play threat before going down, as Bateman averaged 22.1 yards per catch.
Without Bateman, the Ravens have leaned more on Devin Duvernay and their tight ends.
"We're not losing any concepts because he's not out there, but it's one less really good player out there affecting the defense," Harbaugh said.
In addition to Bateman, the Ravens' backfield is about to get stronger as Gus Edwards is also nearing his return to game action. Edwards is entering his third week of practice and must be either moved to the 53-man roster or placed on season-ending injured reserve by Oct. 26.
"Gus is in the mix. We'll see about this week – possibly, maybe next week, maybe Thursday, somewhere in there," Harbaugh said.
J.K. Dobbins sat out the second half of Sunday's game at MetLife Stadium because of knee tightness. Harbaugh said Dobbins just didn't feel like he had explosiveness after getting seven carries in the first half.
"That knee is not going to be all of a sudden, 'OK now it's healthy.' This is a process," Harbaugh said.
"You saw it with (Saquon) Barkley and look at him now. I just feel like J.K. is pushing as hard as he can to get through it. He's a really good back right now, no question. And he's only going to get better, and he's going to be better than he's ever been before. What that timing is, it just depends."
Dobbins' knee tightness opened the door for Kenyan Drake, who ran for 119 yards on just 10 carries against the Giants defense.
"The opportunity to get Kenyan started was there," Harbaugh said. "And once you get him started and headed downhill, he's really effective. He's got some speed, some explosiveness. That's positive."
