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Rashod Bateman

Ravens Rumors: Ricard, Bateman, OL

June 21st, 2023 at 8:57pm CST by Ely Allen

Baltimore will be without its four-time Pro Bowl fullback to start training camp, according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN. Head coach John Harbaugh told the media last week that Patrick Ricard underwent hip surgery this offseason, meaning he’ll start training camp on the physically unable to perform list.

After five seasons of defensive line play at Maine, Ricard began his career playing on both sides of the ball for the Ravens, serving double duty as a defensive lineman and a fullback. Over the past four years, Ricard has played exclusively on the offensive side of the ball, routinely grading out as the league’s top fullback, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

With Ricard out, the Ravens will turn to former fifth-round pick Ben Mason. It’s no wonder Baltimore saw something it liked in Mason in the 2021 NFL Draft. Coming out of Michigan, Mason had just moved into a fullback/tight end role for the Wolverines after spending a season at defensive tackle as a junior. They must’ve seen a lot of Ricard in Mason, but without an immediate need for him, Mason failed to make the final 53-man roster that year.

Mason spent 2021 on the Patriots’ and Bears’ practice squads. After the season ended, Mason returned to Baltimore, spending last season on the practice squad. If Ricard is forced to miss extended time due to his hip surgery, Mason could finally get a chance to prove his worth.

Here are a few other rumors coming out of Charm City:

  • Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman has had a rocky start to his NFL career. Despite obvious displays of the talent that got him drafted in the first round two years ago, Bateman has struggled to stay on the field. Over his first two seasons, Bateman has missed 17 total games, including a playoff game this past season. Groin surgery just before his rookie season forced him to miss five games and a Lisfranc surgery ended his season early last year. He’s not quite out of the woods yet, according to Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Banner. Harbaugh told the media that Bateman had received a cortisone shot “for healing purposes.” He seemed to hope that it would help keep the injury short-term, claiming that the shot would only sideline Bateman for a couple of days. “We just decided to let him keep rehabbing and make sure he’s ready to go for training camp,” Harbaugh explained.
  • A couple weeks ago, we delved into the Ravens’ position battle at left guard. At the time, we mentioned drafted rookies Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu and Andrew Vorhees. Vorhees will likely spend most, if not all, of his rookie season recovering from recent injuries, while we noted Aumavae-Laulu was projected as a developmental pick. The assessments on Aumavae-Laulu may have been a bit off as Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic has reported that he appears to be very much in the mix for the starting left guard job. Harbaugh apparently made it very clear by featuring the sixth-round pick heavily in minicamp.
  • Former first-round wide receiver Laquon Treadwell recently got another chance to stick on a roster by signing with Baltimore. Thanks to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, we now have a few details on his new contract. According to Wilson, Treadwell will receive the league veteran minimum on a one-year, $1.17MM deal.

Ravens WR Rashod Bateman Participating In OTAs

May 22nd, 2023 at 6:36pm CST by Ben Levine

Rashod Bateman‘s 2022 campaign ended in November following season-ending Lisfranc foot surgery. While recovering from foot injuries is especially difficult for skill players, the Ravens wideout sounds like he’ll be ready to go for the start of the 2023 season.

As Clifton Brown of the team’s website passes along, Bateman was on the field Monday for the first day of Baltimore’s OTAs. While the team intends to bring him along the slowly, the wideout will still be attending the optional workouts as he becomes familiar with new OC Todd Monken.

The 2021 first-round pick showed his potential during his rookie campaign. While he missed the first month-plus while recovering from core muscle surgery, he still managed to finish the campaign with 46 receptions for 515 yards and one touchdown. He increased his yards-per-catch average through his first six games in 2022, collecting 285 receiving yards on 15 catches.

While Bateman hasn’t been able to put together top-end production for an entire season, the Ravens still believe the third-year wideout will be a crucial part of their offense.

“He’s going to be ready to roll stronger than ever, healthier than ever,” coach John Harbaugh said (via Brown). “Rashod’s going to have a great season. I’m a big believer in Rashod Bateman.”

Bateman will see a more crowded depth chart when he returns to the field. The Ravens added Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor before drafting Boston College’s Zay Flowers in the first round of the draft.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/7/22

November 7th, 2022 at 7:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Monday’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

  • Designated for return: G Shane Lemieux
  • Placed on IR: DT Nicholas Williams

Lemieux has been out since September 2021. A severe knee injury paused Lemieux’s career, sidelining him after he had commandeered a starting job. The Giants drafted Lemieux in the 2020 fifth round and turned to him as a starter for much of his rookie season. But the team’s new regime addressed the interior line extensively this offseason, signing Mark Glowinski and Jon Feliciano before drafting Joshua Ezeudu and Marcus McKethan.

The Giants, however, lost McKethan for the season and are without starting left guard Ben Bredeson. The team having Lemieux and former center starter Nick Gates, who also battled back from a severe injury, back will provide some options for Brian Daboll up front. Bredeson, whom the team placed on IR last week, will be a candidate to be one of Big Blue’s injury activations later this season.

Ravens WR Rashod Bateman To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

November 3rd, 2022 at 2:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Ravens will be without their No. 1 wide receiver for the rest of the season. Rashod Bateman will undergo surgery to repair a Lisfranc issue, John Harbaugh said Thursday (via ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley, on Twitter).

This foot operation is expected to sideline the second-year receiver for this campaign’s remainder. Bateman had missed Baltimore’s Week 5 and Week 6 games, before returning to play in the team’s most recent two contests. This will be a tough blow for the AFC North-leading team.

Bateman aggravated his foot injury during the Ravens’ Week 8 win over the Buccaneers. This setback was only supposed to cost him multiple games; an IR stay was not yet certain prior to today. Instead, an already-thin Ravens receiving corps will need to get by without the player drafted to be its anchor.

Baltimore played without Bateman for five games to start the 2021 season, after the Minnesota product suffered a groin injury during training camp. But the 2021 first-round pick still re-emerged as a key target down the stretch for Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley. Bateman caught 46 passes for 585 yards and a touchdown. He already has two scores this season and has far exceeded his rookie-year yards-per-catch figure, but the 19-yard number will end up being final.

While Bateman still stands to be a big part of the Ravens’ long-term future, he will end this season with 18 career missed games. The Ravens moved to draft Bateman 27th overall last year, prioritizing him over an outside linebacker need. Baltimore had both Gregory Rousseau and Odafe Oweh rated closely that year, so the team preferred Bateman’s value with its initial first-round pick and ended up with Oweh — who went one spot after Rousseau — three spots later.

The Ravens resisted calls to augment their receiver situation this offseason, going into the year with Bateman and Devin Duvernay as their top targets. None of Baltimore’s auxiliary presences have made much of an impact thus far, leading the team to sign DeSean Jackson. The historically productive deep threat has battled extensive injury troubles in the recent past as well, but he bounced back with a solid health stretch last year. Jackson, 35, will likely make his Ravens debut Monday night against the Saints.

Latest On Ravens’ Injury Situation

October 31st, 2022 at 4:45pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Ravens have made a significant move ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline to bolster their defense, but the AFC North leaders are facing a murky situation with respect to their offense. A number of the unit’s key contributors are facing injuries at the moment, and have a range of expected return dates.

Baltimore’s running back tandem of J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards have yet to be healthy at the same time in 2022, something which will continue for a at least a few more games. The former was placed on IR last week, after he played in four games upon return from the knee injury which cost him the entire 2021 season. That move was not actually the result of a new injury, however, as head coach John Harbaugh confirmed (video link). Rather, Dobbins underwent surgery to “accelerate” the process by which he can regain full range of motion in his knee. Harbaugh indicated Dobbins could miss four to six weeks depending on the success of his recovery.

That news leaves Edwards as the team’s lead back, a role which he took on in Week 7 against the Browns, his first action after suffering a season-ending knee injury of his own last summer. That continued through much of the Ravens’ TNF win against the Buccaneers, but the 27-year-old injured his hamstring in that game. Fortunately, that new ailment is believed to be minor, with NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeting that Edwards is expected to miss no more than one game.

The Ravens also exited their Week 8 contest without their top two pass-catchers. Tight end Mark Andrews was dealing with a knee injury in advance of the contest, but had to leave due to a shoulder issue. As Harbaugh indicated today, however, the All-Pro is not expected to be dealing with anything serious (Twitter link via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley). That news is particularly encouraging given the latest update on the team’s top receiver.

Rashod Bateman is facing a foot injury which dates back to earlier in the year. The 2021 first-rounder was sidelined for Weeks 5 and 6, but returned during the following game. On Thursday, however, he re-aggravated the injury after seeing limited snaps and failing to receive a target against the Buccaneers. Harbaugh said (via The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec, on Twitter) that Bateman’s situation is worse than initially thought, and that he will now likely miss “multiple weeks.” That will place further emphasis on the team’s other receivers, a group which now includes DeSean Jackson.

Baltimore visits the Saints to close out Week 9, then has their bye week, which could allow the team to get healthier on the offensive side of the ball. Doing so would no doubt go a long way to improving the chances of a run to the postseason in the second half of the campaign.

Latest On Ravens’ WR Room

July 5th, 2022 at 2:24pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Ravens have frequently been mentioned as one of the teams most in need of an addition at the receiver position this offseason. That has included the team being identified as a landing spot for one of the veterans still on the free agent market. 

Such speculation is unsurprising, given the current state of the team’s WR room. Four wideouts can comfortably be slotted in on the 53-man roster, led by 2021 first-rounder Rashod Bateman. He, like Devin Duvernay, James Proche and Tylan Wallace, however, lacks NFL experience and a track record of success in the pros. Especially in the absence of Marquise Brown, an addition of some kind has been widely expected since the draft.

Outside of free agency, trades represent another avenue by which the Ravens could an established pass-catcher. On that point, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic opines that it is all-but guaranteed general manager Eric DeCosta has “spoken to teams about acquiring a receiver” (subscription required). A blockbuster deal such as the one involving Brown is unlikely, though, given the team’s sparse salary cap space and run-heavy offense.

Assuming a sizeable move isn’t made in the coming weeks, Zrebiec names Proche as the incumbent wideout best-positioned to see an increased workload. While Bateman is in line to take on the role of No. 1 receiver, and All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews will see a healthy target share, the 2020 sixth-rounder could be in line for a starting spot. He has totalled just 17 receptions to date, but put up substantial production during his college career at SMU.

Given his track record in player swaps (from Brown most recently, to Orlando Brown Jr. last offseason), DeCosta making a trade for another wideout would come as little surprise at this point. Even if that happens, however, the position will remain one to watch throughout training camp and into the start of the season.

Ravens Activate Bateman, Phillips From IR

October 16th, 2021 at 3:37pm CST by Rory Parks

Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman will make his NFL debut this weekend in a heavily anticipated matchup between two exciting young QBs in Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and the Chargers’ Justin Herbert. Head coach John Harbaugh apprised reporters of the news today (Twitter link via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic).

Baltimore activated both Bateman and guard Tyre Phillips from IR Saturday. Phillips has been out since Week 1 due to a knee injury that required cart transportation. He began the season as the Ravens’ starting left guard. This move comes shortly after the Ravens placed rookie fill-in Ben Cleveland, who has split time at left guard with Ben Powers, on IR. Baltimore promoted Le’Veon Bell and tackle Andre Smith from its practice squad as well.

The Ravens have managed a 4-1 record despite a rash of injured stars and key contributors, including their top two RBs — J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards — CB Marcus Peters, LT Ronnie Stanley, and many others besides. Bateman, the 27th-overall pick of this year’s draft, joined the club’s MASH unit after suffering a significant groin pull in training camp that ultimately required surgery. Baltimore put its rookie wideout on IR and designated him for return at the end of September.

The Ravens’ ground game, which was the club’s calling card over the past several years, has been subdued in 2021 thanks in large part to the aforementioned injuries to Dobbins and Edwards (and thanks to opposing defenses gearing up to stop the run). But Jackson has elevated his passing abilities and his receivers have played well, allowing Baltimore to sustain a productive aerial attack, which Bateman should further bolster.

Unfortunately (but not unsurprisingly), Bateman’s debut coincides with the loss of fellow wideout Sammy Watkins. Watkins signed a one-year contract with the Ravens this spring, and he had developed a strong rapport with Jackson, catching 18 passes for 292 yards (good for a 16.2 YPR mark, which would be the second-highest figure of his career). Watkins suffered a hamstring injury in Monday’s dramatic win over the Colts, and he has been ruled out for the Chargers game this week (Twitter link via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com). There is no definitive timetable for Watkins at this point, but it does not sound like the team will put him on IR just yet.

Meanwhile, Baltimore continues to be without TE Nick Boyle. Boyle is an effective ancillary receiving target in his own right, but his primary contribution has been as a blocker. He is regarded as one of the best blocking tight ends in the league, and his return could help the running game get back on track. As with Watkins, there is no definitive return date for Boyle, but Harbaugh said the Delaware product will come off of IR soon (Twitter link via Hensley).

Boyle has been recovering from a severe knee injury he suffered last November, which ended his 2020 season prematurely.

Ravens Designate Rashod Bateman, Miles Boykin For Return

September 29th, 2021 at 10:10am CST by Zachary Links

The Ravens have designated wide receivers Rashod Bateman and Miles Boykin for return from injured reserve. Both players will now be able to practice with the team as they prepare to retake the field. 

Bateman underwent groin surgery in August and was forced to begin the year on IR. One of several stellar WRs in the 2020 class, Bateman registered 1,219 yards and eleven touchdowns in 2019, his last full season at Minnesota. The Ravens selected him with the No. 27 in this past year’s draft.

Up until this year, Boykin hadn’t missed a game as a pro. The 2019 third-rounder started 24 games over his first two seasons, hauling in 32 receptions for 464 yards and seven touchdowns.

With Bateman and Boykin on IR, the Ravens have been working with five wideouts: Marquise Brown, Sammy Watkins, James Proche, Devin Duvernay, and Tylan Wallace. Now they’re close to getting some reinforcements as they prepare for the Broncos in Week 4.

Ravens Place WRs Rashod Bateman, Miles Boykin On IR

September 1st, 2021 at 5:52pm CST by Ben Levine

The Ravens are placing a pair of wide receivers on injured reserve. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that the team placed first-round pick Rashod Bateman and teammate Miles Boykin on IR. The team re-signed tight end Eric Tomlinson to take one of those open roster spots.

Bateman underwent groin surgery last month, and he was expected to be sidelined until some point in September. Now, he’ll sit out at least the Ravens’ first three games, but there’s a chance he could be back at some point in October. Bateman, one of several stellar WRs in the 2020 class, registered 1,219 yards and eleven touchdowns in 2019, his last full season at Minnesota. The Ravens selected him with the No. 27 in this past year’s draft.

Boykin hasn’t missed a game since being selected in the third round of the 2019 draft. The wideout has also started 24 games over his first two seasons, hauling in 32 receptions for 464 yards and seven touchdowns.

With Bateman and Boykin landing on IR, the Ravens are left with five wideouts on their roster: Marquise Brown, Sammy Watkins, James Proche, Devin Duvernay, and Tylan Wallace.

Tomlinson, 29, had a three-year stint with the Jets before bouncing between the Giants (twice), Patriots, Raiders, and Ravens. He got into six games with Baltimore in 2020, earning 123 offensive snaps.

Surgery For Ravens’ Rashod Bateman

August 12th, 2021 at 11:56am CST by Zachary Links

Rashod Bateman will undergo groin surgery this week, according to Ravens head coach John Harbaugh (Twitter link via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com). The exact timeline isn’t clear, but the wide receiver will be “back sometime in September.” That likely means that the Ravens will be without Bateman for the season opener, at minimum. 

Bateman suffered a significant pull in practice, a tough blow for a Ravens offense that lacks depth at wide receiver. The Ravens believe that Bateman — the No. 27 overall pick in this year’s draft — will make a difference in Lamar Jackson‘s passing game. But, first, they have to get him healthy.

The Ravens did add veteran Sammy Watkins to the fold this year and they still have Marquise Brown to lead the way. However, Brown is dinged up with a hamstring injury of his own — ditto for Miles Boykin.

Bateman, one of several stellar WRs in the 2020 class, registered 1,219 yards and eleven touchdowns in 2019, his last full season at Minnesota.

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