Baltimore Ravens Fill Roster With Jason Babin After Suggs' Season-Ending Injury
By Kevin McGuire
The Baltimore Ravens were put in an unfortunate position of having to replace one of its top players this week right of the chutes of a new NFL season. Now they are left wondering which quarterback they should be preparing for on Sunday in Oakland.
Moving on without Suggs
The Ravens lost more than a game on Sunday afternoon in the Mile High City; they lost one of their best players. Linebacker Terrell Suggs tore his left Achilles in the game, which will force him to miss the remainder of the 2015 season. That is a significant blow to the Ravens defense. Suggs brings a physical style of play to the defense every time he is out on the field, and he carries that identity of the Ravens defense on his uniform. This is the second time Suggs has experienced this sort of injury, having missed six games in 2012 for a similar injury to his right leg. For now all Suggs can do is watch and support his team from the sideline and hope to be ready to go for training camp in 2016.
Ravens add Jason Babin
While replacing Suggs is no easy task on the defensive side of the ball, Baltimore did what they could to add an extra body where they could. Outside linebacker Jason Bain has been signed to a one-year contract. The 35-year-old veteran was most recently with the New York Jets in 2014 and has had multiple stints around the NFL in his career. He has previously played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs and the NY Jets. Back in 2011, Babin recorded 11 sacks - it will be great if he can recapture that younger ability. For now, the Ravens will be happy just to have a veteran presence on the roster.
Oakland has injury issues too!
The Oakland Raiders saw safeties Charles Woodson and Nate Allen each go down with injuries in their season opener, and quarterback Derek Carr got banged up, too. Earlier in the week, it seemed as though the Raiders were going to have to run the offense through backup Matt McGloin, but Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio is suggested in an interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio that Carr may be available to play Sunday. X-rays for a broken thumb were negative, and Carr said he is able to grip the football better than expected. We'll just have to wait and see what the injury report later this week has to say about this.
Kevin McGuire is a Philadelphia area sports writer covering the Philadelphia Eagles and college football. McGuire is a member of the FWAA and National Football Foundation. Follow McGuire on Twitter @KevinOnCFB. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
