Like the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens are also starting their annual training camp on Thursday and they’ll do so with more even more bad news serving as headlines.
According to multiple reports, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is currently battling discomfort in his back that has plagued him for the past two weeks. Many are speculating that Flacco could be sidelined for as long as six weeks depending on the seriousness of his injury so his situation certainly bears watching.
The Ravens currently have three quarterbacks under contract and that includes Ryan Mallett and Dustin Vaughan. If indeed Flacco winds up missing time during training camp, it’s easy to speculate that another quarterback will be signed very soon with free agent Colin Kaepernick leading the list in potential candidates.
If the announcement of Flacco’s back injury isn’t bad enough news, the Ravens also announced on Thursday that offensive lineman John Urschel has decided to retire after just three years in the league.
Urschel, who was drafted by the Ravens in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft out of Penn State, was expected to battle for the starting center position this year during training camp. His retirement now leaves the Ravens with Ryan Jensen and Matt Skura as the two in-house candidates to be the team’s starting center in 2017.
It’s worth noting, however, that veteran center Nick Mangold is still a free agent following him being released by the New York Jets earlier in the offseason and he could wind up being a fallback option.
On Wednesday, the Ravens announced that second-year running back Kenneth Dixon will miss the entire 2017 season due to a knee injury that required surgery.
