The Ravens were without three starting offensive linemen and have a fourth on the injury report at the start of this week's practices for Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills.
Center Tyler Linderbaum (knee), right tackle Patrick Mekari (neck), and left guard Andrews Vorhees (ankle) did not practice. Right guard Daniel Faalele (hip) was on the injury report but practiced fully.
"What happens in the course of the season is it's a very physical sport," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "You have guys that are going to be working through things pretty much every week. If you look around the league, you'll see that pretty much with every team. We have to deal with those things just like everybody else."
The offensive line is coming off a strong performance against Dallas last week, in which all five offensive line starters played 100% of the snaps. The Ravens didn't rotate Mekari with rookie Roger Rosengarten as they had in previous weeks. Baltimore's offensive line is looking to roll that momentum into Sunday's game, which will be against a tougher Bills defensive front.
In other injury news, Baltimore was also without veteran nose tackle Michael Pierce (shoulder) and cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (hamstring) Wednesday. Pierce briefly left Sunday's game in Dallas flexing his arm, but returned to action and had a strong game. Armour-Davis was ruled out during the game.
Linebacker Roquan Smith (ankle) was limited and safety Ar'Darius Washington (ankle) and linebacker Josh Ross (hip) were full participants.
Bills Defense Is Banged Up
Bills nickel cornerback Taron Johnson (forearm) told reporters that he's hoping to be back for Week 5, not this week. Starting middle linebacker Terrel Bernard (pectoral) did not practice and star linebacker Matt Milano is on injured reserve with a torn biceps suffered in training camp.
Because of all the injuries, the Bills have not played a single down in their base defense yet this season, per Next Gen Stats. They've been heavily utilizing their nickel defense and some dime (six defensive backs). Harbaugh is interested in seeing whether that will change this week going against a Ravens team that just piled up 274 rushing yards in Dallas.
"I really wish someone would ask that question to Sean [McDermott] and then find out whether that's a possibility or not," Harbaugh said with a laugh. "I expect them to get in dime a little bit, they've done that recently. But whether they'll get into base or not, I don't know."
