Woodhead to IR; Langford steps in
Suggs focused on battle with Browns tackle Thomas; Weddle returns to practice
Ravens running back Danny Woodhead now has eight weeks to recuperate from an injured left hamstring.
The Ravens put the veteran on injured reserve Thursday, meaning he won’t be eligible to return to game action until the team’s Week11matchup with the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 19.
If the Ravens decide Woodhead is one of two players they’ll bring back to the active roster from IR, he can return to practice in six weeks, but he can’t be activated until after eight weeks. The Ravens have a Week 10 bye, so that means Woodhead wouldn’t be able to play until Week11.
To take his place on the roster, the Ravens promoted former Chicago Bears running back Jeremy Langford to the active roster. The Ravens added Langford, 25, to the practice squad Sept. 4 and chose to promote him over Alex Collins, the former Seattle Seahawks running back.
“You never want nobody to get hurt,” Langford said after Thursday’s practice. “For me, it was just an opportunity to come in here and work hard under a great coach and coaching staff. My opportunity has come and I have to make the best of it.”
Langford has 210 carries for 737 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns, and 41 catches for 421 yards and one touchdown in 28 total games (five starts) for the Bears in 2015 and 2016. A fourth-round pick out of Michigan State in 2015, Langford was expected to be Chicago’s starting back last year, but an ankle injury and the emergence of rookie Jordan Howard started his slide down the depth chart. He was let go by the Bears following the preseason after they claimed Taquan Mizzell off waivers from the Ravens.
It’s unclear whether Langford will be active for the game Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. The Ravens could choose to just have two running backs — Terrance West (Towson University, Northwestern High) and Buck Allen — in uniform.
Woodhead, 32, who battled a hamstring problem throughout training camp, is a significant loss. He was on the field for just six plays in the opener against the Cincinnati Bengals before he pulled his left hamstring running a pass route near the goal line. He had three catches for 33 yards and one carry for 4 yards.
“What a heck of a player, a heck of a player,” Ravens offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said. “So now we have some other guys, a whole group of guys that have to take that part over, and we’ll look forward to getting him back quite possibly at some point there.” Suggs readies for tough test: Ravens rush linebacker Terrell Suggs made clear Wednesday that he’s not overly consumed by the defense’s matchup with Browns rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer. He’s more focused on who will be directly in front of him much of Sunday afternoon.
Suggs and Browns left tackle Joe Thomas will renew acquaintances in the latest chapter of their rivalry. Sunday might carry a little extra significance for Thomas, who is poised to play his 10,000th consecutive snap.
A 10-time Pro Bowl selection, Thomas, 32, has never missed a game or an offensive play. Overall, he has played in all 9,996 offensive snaps since being drafted in 2007.
That’s the longest current streak in the league, and it’s believed to be the longest in NFL history.
“God damn, that is legit,” Suggs said when informed of Thomas’ streak. “That is pretty amazing, especially in this league. It is a physical league for his position. That is a pretty awesome milestone, accomplishment.”
Suggs, who is coming off a two-sack performance in Sunday’s opener, has 17 career sacks and eight forced fumbles in 25 games against the Browns, the most he has versus any opponent. Eight of those sacks, though, came before Thomas entered the league.
Suggs, 34, does have one sack in four of the past six games against Cleveland.
“It is not really the rookie quarterback I’m really facing. I have to go against the Hall of Famer,” Suggs said of Thomas. “Those matchups are always fun. You always want to play against the best.” Weddle back in, Williams out: Despite saying he still felt a little worn out, Ravens safety Eric Weddle returned to practice Thursday after missing the workout a day earlier because of an illness. However, rookie outside linebacker Tim Williams, who could be in line to make his regularseason debut Sunday with Za’Darius Smith not expected to play, was sidelined Thursday with an illness.
Smith, Williams and cornerbacks Sheldon Price (concussion) and Jaylen Hill (hamstring) were the four Ravens not practicing. Hello again: Only five opposing running backs reached the 100-yard mark last season against the Ravens, who will reac- quaint themselves with the first one to do so. Cleveland’s Isaiah Crowell gained 133 yards — including 85 on a touchdown scamper in the first quarter — in a 25-20 loss to the Ravens on Sept. 18, 2016.
In a second meeting with the Ravens on Nov. 10, the 24 year old managed only 23 yards on nine rushes, but middle linebacker C.J. Mosley has not forgotten what Crowell did in the first game.
“A downhill runner,” Mosley said Wednesday of the 5-foot-11, 225-pound Crowell. “He can also be a perimeter runner, but he’s definitely a big-play guy. Last year, the first time we played them — he got an 80-yarder on us. He can break tackles.” End zone: The Ravens announced that two of their all-time best players, Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis, will be in London next week to take part in events before the team’s game Sept.24 against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium. Ogden, Lewis and former Jaguars Mark Brunell and Fred Taylor will participate in a fan forum and be featured as the respective team’s legends. … Defensive coordinator Dean Pees revealed that only one of the defense’s five sacks in Sunday’s win against the Bengals was the result of a blitz.