The city of Baltimore was able to take a deep breath as they finally locked in their QB to a 5-year extension thus settling the discussion regarding the position. The question of health however remains. With one of the biggest criticisms of Lamar Jacksons guaranteed money amount being the numerous times he has found himself on the injury report, the health status of the 2019 MVP and 2x pro bowler will undoubtedly be under the microscope.
Do the Baltimore Ravens have a fundamental health issue?
From a 10,000-foot view Lamar shouldn’t be the only one criticized for injury issues on the team. Of course, he is the one getting a big pay day so his name floated to the top of the list but considering the number of impact players on the Ravens roster that end up on the injured reserve perhaps it is more of a systemic problem that should be addressed. At the start of last season alone they saw multiple players still recovering following catastrophic injuries from the prior season including J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards and Marcus Peters. In addition, all three had additional struggles upon return with secondary injuries that can be partially attributed to deficiencies during the rehabilitation process. This included secondary quad injuries, hamstring and continued knee concerns.
What is the root of the problem?
When looking at a possible bigger issue such as player health and safety, it is important to approach the concern from all angles. In the spirit of doing so I love to look at the NFLPA report cards (as you may have seen from previous articles). One of the reasons for this is I feel that the players have a better pulse on the organizational energy than anyone as they live it every day. In doing so, low and behold the Ravens health and safety big three (Medical, Strength and Conditioning, and Nutrition) didn’t receive one A on their report card.
Within those specialties medical received a B+. Generally speaking, I can’t fault them too much as maybe that is because they are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of players in the training room and can’t give 1on1 help to every player. It could mean that since the training room itself got a grade of C, that some of the inadequacies of the facilities are flooding over to the staff or not allowing them to do their job, or, not enough modalities or resources as the in-depth report would suggest. Nutrition received a B- grade. Sarah Snyder who is director of sports nutrition is a very accomplished dietician and it seems based on the full report that the quality of food is the biggest reason for the lower grade and not individualized plans, players feeling neglected or the staff. If that is the case, it seems like an easy fix. The glaring issues is the F- received by the strength staff. The lowest in the NFL. In the full overview it was reported “Only 38% of player respondents felt that they receive an individualized plan for their strength training, and many complained that the training room is understaffed”. Luckily for the players, the team and prior head strength coach Steve Saunders have split ways and there is only one way to go from an F- and that is up.
BALTIMORE, MD - DECEMBER 04: Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely (80) is helped off the field following an injury during the Denver Broncos game versus the Baltimore Ravens on December 4, 2022 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire)
It has been well established in theory and in evidence-based literature that strength and conditioning, medical and nutrition of an organization all play large roles in the overall health of athletes. With the clear grading of the players, and injury issues that have plagued the team over the past few years perhaps we were all a little quick to fire off our judgement of individual players and their injuries when it comes to missed time. Just to play devil’s advocate, yes, I agree the more Lamar runs and leaves the pocket and the more run heavy a team is the more of a chance the QB and the RBs might be injured, but to be clear what I am saying is more players than just those individual positions and specific players are showing up and that seems to me like a fundamental problem.
How was their overall Banged-Up Score health ranking this past season?
Even with this being the case the Ravens were still able to reach the playoffs this season. This is despite being 29th in weekly Banged-Up Score positional ranking across the NFL with an average weekly positional ranking over the regular season of 27.2 out of the 32 teams. Their average overall Banged-Up Score of 64.6 was low which is no surprise when looking at the weekly trend graph. With a low of 58.3 that they managed to accomplish twice and a high at week 1 of only 76.9 it was another bad year of health for the Baltimore purple and gold. They ended with the worst health in their division as well, but with both Cleveland and Pittsburgh coming up short they were able to at least take the second position in the AFC North. With what we know and have preached about health over the previous 3 seasons, the accomplishment of just making the playoffs is a big deal.
The Ravens really have no excuses this year. They have made the proper moves in the offseason to be able to compete even against a strong Bengals team this year. With their QB locked in and a number of new weapons including Odell Beckham Jr. and Zay Flowers at wide receiver and the continuation of a strong defense, Baltimore has put themselves in a position to be a real contender. If they can finally get healthy and stay healthy then this year could be exciting for them. Healthiness has eluded them for the past few season and will be a big contributor to how far they can go.
