Yanda ‘100 percent’ after loss to Dallas
Veteran is OK despite shoulder injury; Lewis apologizes to Flacco
The last time Ravens guard Marshal Yanda played before Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, he aggravated a left shoulder injury that forced him to sit out for the third time in their previous four games.
But Yanda avoided another setback after playing all 55 snaps on offense in a 27-17 loss at AT&T Stadium. Coach John Harbaugh said Yanda felt good enough to work out at the team’s training facility in Owings Mills on Monday.
“He got out of it well,” Harbaugh said during his weekly news conference Monday. “I talked to him this morning, and he felt really good and felt strong. He got a lift in this morning. So that was a good sign. He got out of it 100 percent.”
A five-time Pro Bowl selection at right guard, Yanda approached the coaching staff about starting at left guard, where the team has lost rookie Alex Lewis to a high-ankle sprain for at least another four weeks. Harbaugh said Yanda looked like a natural on the left side, between rookie left tackle Ronnie Stanley and center Jeremy Zuttah, while Vladimir Ducasse made his second consecutive start at right guard.
“He kind of looked like he’s played it all along,” Harbaugh said. “He didn’t have any problems in there. Yeah, it was a good move for us.”
While Yanda solidified the offensive line, there isn’t much clarity regarding the availability of cornerback Jimmy Smith and outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil for Sunday’s pivotal AFC North showdown with the visiting Cincinnati Bengals.
Smith missed his first game of the season because of a back ailment that flared up last week. Dumervil still is dealing with a foot injury related to surgery he underwent in the offseason.
Harbaugh did not have much information on either player’s status. “We’ll see,” he said. “I don’t really know. It’s up to the doctors.” Lewis apologizes to Flacco: Four days after questioning Joe Flacco’s passion for football, former Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis posted a video on Twitter in which he apologized to the Ravens quarterback with whom he played for five years.
Lewis, wearing a shirt and tie and seemingly sitting in the backseat of a car in the video, spoke for 2 minutes, 20 seconds.
“I’ve got to say this man to man, from my heart,” he began. “Let me tell you something, man. I’m a Raven for life, but Joe Flacco, what I was talking about, my brother, it wasn’t even about you. It wasn’t even personal. It was just me being frustrated about watching something that I had control over for so many years, which was men and inspiring them to go on and do things. And guess what? Like everybody else, I lashed out at the quarterback because, quote-unquote, that’s the person who’s supposed to carry us or do whatever.
“Brother, your personality is what it is. You’re a man, and you put on your pants one leg at a time just like everybody else. Listen, from a man, you’ll never hear it again. I’m sorry for ever even calling out your name and putting your name into context of making you try to be anything that I am or Ray Lewis Steve Smith Sr. catches a pass for a fourth-quarter touchdown. Smith had eight catches Sunday, including the 1,000th of his career. anything that you’re not.”
Lewis sparked the controversy Thursday when he said on Fox Sports 1 that he never had seen Flacco play with passion. The next day, Flacco defended his calm personality. Encore for Smith? Steve Smith Sr. has vowed that this season will be the last of his 16-year career as a wide receiver. But fellow wideout Mike Wallace said he would love to continue playing with Smith.
“Sixteen years is a long time, but if anybody can keep playing, it’s him,” Wallace said Sunday. “It’s just an honor to be on the team with him. Every day, to see the way he works and see how we carries himself, I just love it. I wish I would have had more time with him.”
The oldest receiver in the league, Smith, 37, ranks second on the team in yards (516) and touchdown catches (three) and third in receptions (44). In Sunday’s loss, he paced the offense with eight catches for 99 yards and one score, and reached the 1,000reception mark for his career.
Harbaugh acknowledged that trying to persuade Smith to return “has crossed my mind.”
“If he wants to come back, he’s welcome. Absolutely,” Harbaugh said. “You’d like every good football player you can get. But I don’t want to speak for Steve. He’s had an unbelievably awesome career. He got his 1,000th catch, so he should be commended for that. Congratulations to Steve on that accomplishment. We look for many more this year.” Boyle eligible to return: After serving a 10-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs for the second time, tight end Nick Boyle is eligible to return to the Ravens this week.
Boyle, a fifth-round selection in the 2015 NFL draft who caught six passes for 46 yards in the preseason, would provide much-needed depth to a group that lost Benjamin Watson (torn right Achilles tendon) and Maxx Williams (knee cartilage) for the season, bade farewell to practice squad player Daniel Brown when Ravens linebacker Zachary Orr, who grew up and played high school and college football in the Dallas area, sacks Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the first half. he was signed by the Chicago Bears, and has played the past three games without Crockett Gillmore (pulled hamstring). Dennis Pitta and Darren Waller are the team’s only healthy tight ends.
Harbaugh said the team has some time before deciding whether to place Boyle on the active roster. “I think we have a week to make the decision, so it’s not for this game where we have to make a decision,” he said, referring to Sunday’s game against Cincinnati. “It could be after this game. That’s my understanding. ... But he’ll be back practicing this week. We’ll see how he looks. He hasn’t been here for 10 weeks, so it’s been quite a while.” End zone: Inside linebacker Zachary Orr led the defense in tackles with 11 in his return to the Dallas area, where he played at DeSoto High and North Texas. “Just to come back home where I grew up and a lot of my family and friends from high school and college watch me live and in person — and even people who weren’t at the game who live down here — [and] local on TV is just great,” said Orr, who went undrafted in 2014. “I got a lot of text messages and good-luck wishes. It is something I definitely enjoyed.” … The Denver Broncos signed former Ravens wide receiver Marlon Brown to their active roster. Brown, who joined the Ravens in 2013 as an undrafted rookie, started 12 games that year and caught 49 passes for 524 yards and seven touchdowns.