Ravens safety Marcus Williams will not have surgery on his pectoral injury and will not go on injured reserve, Head Coach John Harbaugh announced Monday.
That means Williams should be able to return to the field in the coming weeks, though there is no definitive timetable.
"He's just rehabbing right now to get himself back on the field," Harbaugh said. "There's sort of a vague timeframe right now."
Williams suffered the injury in the Ravens' Week 1 win against the Texans and evaluated the injury and decision on whether to have surgery throughout last week.
He missed seven games last season due to a fractured wrist and was looking forward to having a full campaign in 2023. Even with last year's injury, he still led the Ravens with four interceptions.
Geno Stone stepped in for Williams against the Bengals and played extremely well, grabbing a game-changing interception in the third quarter and leading the team with nine tackles.
No Updates on Odell Beckham Jr., Odafe Oweh
Harbaugh did not give an update on the health of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. or outside linebacker Odafe Oweh, who are both dealing with ankle injuries.
They both exited Sunday's game in Cincinnati in the first half.
"We got a lot more information. I'm just going to keep that close to the vest though right now," Harbaugh said. "I can tell you this. If there's any long-term issue, we'll let you know what it is."
Lamar Jackson Was Under Center for an All-Time High Number of Snaps
Lamar Jackson taking snaps under center has become a bigger part of Baltimore's offense under Todd Monken and that was on display Sunday.
Jackson was under center for a career-high 16 plays (23% of the snaps) against the Bengals,according to NextGen Stats.
Starting plays with Jackson under center gave the Bengals a look they hadn't seen much, and it was a successful tactic. The longest runs by Gus Edwards (20 yards) and Justice Hill (11 yards) both came on plays with Jackson starting under center.
It's another part of Baltimore's offensive repertoire that opponents will have to prepare for, in addition to seeing Jackson in the shotgun or pistol formations.
"We haven't done it a lot, but he's always been good at it," Harbaugh said. "It's never been a problem with him under center. I think it's something he does really well and going into the season it was part of the plan, to be under there more. You see it happening now.
"As long as it's successful I'm sure we'll keep doing it. I think it creates a lot of problems. People have to defend us that way and all the play-action that comes off that and the run game. They have to defend us in the piston like always. And now the gun stuff has become a bigger part of what we're doing more than ever. Makes us more diverse."
No Penalty on Bengals' Long Punt Return Was Right Call
The Bengals scored their first touchdown on a rare special teams breakdown by the Ravens, an 81-yard punt return by Charlie Jones of the Bengals.
Initially, there was confusion about whether the touchdown would stand after a flag was thrown on the play. However, after a discussion among the officials, the flag for an illegal block against the Bengals was picked up and the touchdown stood.
After watching the game tape, Harbaugh said the officials made the right decision to pick up the flag and allow the touchdown.
"The explanation was that it was a low block, which is illegal by them, but he got pushed into it by one of our guys," Harbaugh said. "It was on tape that it was the right thing. They correctly ruled that.
"That was on us all the way. We made numerous mistakes, that was really poor coverage on our part. It's about us and we were to blame, so we've got to do better with that."
Ravens Cornerbacks Turn in Stellar Performance
The Bengals may have the NFL's top wide receiver trio in Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, with Chase and Higgins both going over 1,000 yards last season. However, the Ravens kept Higgins (89 yards), Boyd (52 yards), and Chase (31 yards) in check, and Baltimore's cornerbacks were rock solid for the second straight game without Pro Bowler Marlon Humphrey (foot).
Collectively, the Ravens' corners are stepping up. Rock Ya-Sin received the highest grade (72.5) among Baltimore's corners on Sunday, Brandon Stephens played every defensive snap for the second straight game, and slot cornerback Ar'Darius Washington played all but three snaps while Ronald Darby had a solid game rotating with Ya-Sin.
The Ravens dealt with injuries at cornerback throughout training camp and the preseason but have risen to the occasion in Weeks 1 & 2.
"Every Ravens fan should be really happy with the way the corners played," Harbaugh said." You're going against arguably the most talented receiver group in the league with a great quarterback (Joe Burrow). I know he's got the calf injury and all that, but he's still throwing that ball and playing really well.
"We didn't back off. We played our game. We played press man. We played zone, press zone. We played cloud zone. We bailed. We played off at times. We played cover zero. We played everything we play, and those guys played exceptionally well. Really, I don't think they had any long passes over 15 or so yards completed – air yards – and that's really incredible …we'll take that all the time from those guys. We're really building some depth in there."
