The Ravens haven’t gotten much this season out of their 2015 draft class, and they’ll see yet another one of their rookies sidelined for the last four games of the year. The team announced today (via Twitter) that tight end Nick Boyle has been suspended without pay for four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
Boyle, who was selected in the fifth round of this year’s draft, caught 18 balls for 153 yards in his rookie season. With Boyle set to hit the reserve/suspended list, only Crockett Gillmore and another rookie, Maxx Williams, remain on the tight end depth chart for Baltimore, and both players are banged up.
Head coach John Harbaugh said today that Gillmore and Williams both have a good chance to play next Sunday, but he noted that the team will still bring in tight ends for an audition (Twitter links via Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun). Practice squad tight end Konrad Reuland looks like a candidate to join the 53-man roster as well.
As for Boyle, Harbaugh said the rookie’s suspension isn’t for steroids. The head coach declined to name the substance that resulted in the failed test, but suggested it was a common violation, adding that Boyle admitted it was a stupid mistake (Twitter links via Zrebiec).