As long as Joe Flacco's back injury doesn't linger – which it's only expected to sideline him for a week – the Ravens only need a backup quarterback to run a few practices.
If the Ravens need more than that, however, they will consider adding Colin Kaepernick.
After Flacco's back injury was discovered Wednesday night, speculation immediately began about the possibility of the Ravens signing the talented, scrutinized free agent.
"I wouldn't rule it out at all. He's a really good football player and I believe he's a really good person," Head Coach John Harbaugh said Thursday.
"We're definitely going to get another arm in here, but he's not an arm, obviously. He's an accomplished football player and we always like having good football players around here."
The Super Bowl XLVII quarterback, who was toppled by Flacco and the Ravens, has sat on the market since the start of March and been the subject of much debate after he chose to kneel during the national anthem throughout last season.
During the run up to and during the 2012 playoffs, Kaepernick was the NFL's most buzzworthy quarterback. Since then, however, he's had tougher seasons in 2015 and 2016, and was released by the 49ers this offseason.
Last year, Kaepernick started 11 games, threw for 2,241 yards and tossed 16 touchdowns to four interceptions. He ran for 468 yards and another couple of touchdowns.
Harbaugh has known Kaepernick via his connection with brother Jim Harbaugh, who coached Kaepernick for four years in San Francisco. John also got to know Kaepernick better when the 49ers traveled to Baltimore for a week of training camp scrimmages in 2014.
The two have stayed in touch, as Harbaugh said he's talked to Kaepernick "a number of times" this summer.
"We've had some great conversations on the phone and it's really been a pleasure to talk to him and get to know him," Harbaugh said. "I like history and politics too, and we've had some debates and it's been fun. He's a great guy."
Harbaugh said whether the Ravens or any team signs Kaepernick will depend on a lot of factors.
"It depends on Colin, first of all, what he wants to do. What's his passion? What's his priority? What's he want to do? What kind of shape he's in, if he's ready to go, and then our needs. So we'll just kind of see where it goes," Harbaugh said.
"It will all be speculation right now. But I think he's a really good football player, and, as I said at the owners' meetings, I do believe he'll be playing in the National Football League this year."
