As you have surely heard by now, the Baltimore Ravens have been hit with the coronavirus, with All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey himself announcing on Monday that he tested positive for Covid-19. As a consequence of the league’s new protocols, this means that he will have to quarantine for a period of time which would preclude him from participating in the Ravens’ next game, even if he tests negative prior to then, unless subsequent retests determine that the original was a false positive.
The team is preparing for one of the bigger remaining games on its schedule, playing away against the 5-2 Indianapolis Colts, who may be getting former Pro Bowl wide receiver T.Y. Hilton back from injury. Obviously, being down Humphrey, coupled with the other injuries they have had at cornerback, will limit them and be a significant blow to their depth.
Currently, the Ravens and the league are still going through the process of contact tracing, and any player who is found to have been a close contact with Humphrey in recent days will be required to self-isolate, and could possibly put their own status in jeopardy.
Otherwise, however, while the team will conduct its meetings virtually, those who were not close contacts with Humphrey will be permitted to participate in in-person practices beginning Wednesday, so at least the physical portion of game preparation for the Ravens should not be affected, outside of the potential unavailability of a limited number of players.
A former first-round draft pick and an All-Pro, Humphrey has developed into one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, and one of the most complete as well. He has 40 tackles on the season, including two for loss, with one interception, five passes defensed, four forced fumbles, and two and a half sacks. He recorded three interceptions and two forced fumbles, with two defensive touchdowns, last season.
With him unavailable, Jimmy Smith will move into the starting lineup full-time once again across from Marcus Peters. The Ravens have already lost Tavon Young and Iman Marshall for the season, and Anthony Averett is expected to miss several more weeks yet. Anthony Levine and Khalil Dorsey are the only other options to play in the nickel.
As of right now, there has been no word on whether or not Humphrey is experiencing any symptoms following his diagnosis. He has remained active on social media, however, even commenting generally on the coronavirus, so hopefully that is a good sign that he remains symptom-free.
