Baltimore Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard has not been practicing. In fact, he’s not practiced since August 14, as he’s dealing with a calf injury, making his status for Sunday night’s game with the Buffalo Bills very doubtful. Baltimore declared the 31-year-old Rickard OUT for Sunday’s game on Friday.
On Wednesday, when he was asked about the chances of Ricard being ready to play on Sunday, John Harbaugh avoided giving a direct answer.
“Why don’t we just leave that for later,” the Baltimore head coach
said. “I appreciate the question.” What does that mean for the Ravens? Or more importantly, for the Bills defense? Ricard, who has played in every game for the past three seasons, is a large part of the Baltimore run game. His blocking sets the stage for Derrick Henry’s funs and Lamar Jackson’s scrambles. While Ricard’s usage has gone down over the years, he was still on the field for 39 percent of Baltimore’s offensive snaps.
Derrick Henry made it clear that he appreciated having the 300-pound Ricard clearing the way for him. Henry ran for 1324 yards and 15 touchdowns behind the fullback, who signed a fully guaranteed one-year contract this offseason with the intentions of retiring as a Raven.
Of course, the Ravens could use a third tight end to help with blocking on Sunday. If they had one. However, Isaiah Likely is not going to be suiting up on Sunday. Likely broke his foot in July, had surgery, and was just recently seen practicing off to the side during today’s practice. It will probably be another week or two before he is ready for action.
Replacing Ricard, a five-time Pro Bowler and an 2023-2025 All Pro is not going to be easy. The question is, how will it make either Jackson or Henry less dominant? Let us know your thoughts on whether Buffalo’s defense will have an easier time stopping the Baltimore offense if Ricard is sidelined?
