With 15 players on injured reserve and 14 players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the Ravens were extremely short-handed against the Cincinnati Bengals.
After the game, Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor said "maybe [the Ravens] had a new DB in there" but it was far more than that.
Baltimore was left shuffling its roster to try to cover the Bengals' assortment of offensive weapons in a 41-21 loss.
Here's how the snap counts played out:
- Cornerback Daryl Worley, who signed with the Ravens last week, played 83% of the snaps. He was going to have a fairly big role regardless, but Anthony Averett's chest injury after just 11 snaps increased Worley's workload.
- Cornerback Kevon Seymour, who spent much of the year on the practice squad, played 75 of the 76 defensive snaps (99%). That's up from 87% a week ago against the Packers and the most single-game snaps Seymour has ever played.
- Tavon Young played 76% of the defensive snaps before leaving the game. The Ravens didn't have another cornerback, so they instead used a mixture of safeties to fill the void after his injury.
- Rookie safety Brandon Stephens did not play 100 percent of the defensive snaps (or close) as he'd done the previous six weeks. He was on the field for 57% of the snaps. Stephens was dealing with an illness last week that knocked him out of practice Thursday and limited him Friday.
- After being signed on Dec. 13, veteran Tony Jefferson logged 47 defensive snaps (62%). He was also prominent on special teams. Jefferson led the Ravens with 10 tackles and had one sack, making a statement that he can still play well in this league after his 2019 season-ending knee injury.
- Second-year defensive tackle Broderick Washington played a season-high 48 snaps with Justin Madubuike on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. He logged one sack and nearly had another on the first play of the game but Joe Burrow wiggled out of his grasp.
- Veteran defensive tackle Calais Campbell (thigh) suited up after missing the team's Week 15 game against Green Bay, but he only played eight defensive snaps.
- Offensively, the Ravens got a good look at two young wide receivers – James Proche and Tylan Wallace. Sammy Watkins didn't get any practice all week because he was on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and only played three offensive snaps. So Proche (47%) and Wallace (46%) basically split the No. 3 receiver job behind Marquise Brown and Rashod Bateman. Proche caught seven of eight passes his way for 76 yards. Wallace converted a third-and-long with an 18-yard catch over the middle in which he shook off contact.
