WINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh is defiant in the face of adversity.
So, when Joe Flacco became the latest player to miss a practice with an injury, Harbaugh expressed optimism his quarterback would be ready for Week 7 game against the New York Jets. Harbaugh is also confident the Ravens will get their season back on track after three straight losses.
“Anybody that wants to write the doom and gloom article — that is fine,” Harbaugh said. “Write it. But look around the league. This is the National Football League; this is a tough league. Put yourself in any other city, and ask yourself what article you would be writing. It would be three or four cities that everyone thinks things are great.
“There will be about 28 cities where everyone will be wringing their hands. We are one of the 28 right now. I am not wringing my hands, because I know what kind of players we have. I know what kind of coaches we have. I know what kind of league this is. This is a long season. There are 10 games left to play. There are 10 opportunities for us to get rolling,” he said.
Despite the recent challenges, Baltimore trails first-place Pittsburgh by just a game in the AFC North. Baltimore perhaps gets a break this week against the struggling New York Jets, who fell to 1-4 with a blowout 28-3 loss to Arizona on Monday night.
However, Baltimore’s top pass rushers — Terrell Suggs (torn left biceps) and Elvis Dumervil (foot) — could be out against the Jets. Both of the Ravens starting cornerback Jimmy Smith and Shareece Wright had to leave the previous game against the New York Giants with injuries and their status is still uncertain.
“It’s definitely challenging, especially when you’re missing the starters and some of your best playmakers,” inside linebacker Zachary Orr said. “Everybody has a job to do. You wouldn’t be on this roster if you weren’t capable of getting the job done. Each and every day we talk about being one play away. It’s coming true. Guys have to be ready, and guys have to step in. We have the men that can do that.”
While the injuries are out of his control, Harbaugh is determined to clean up the number of penalties Baltimore has accumulated each week. The Ravens are tied with Oakland for a league-leading 52 penalties this season. Thirty-four of those penalties have come against Baltimore’s offense, which has hampered the production.
“That is the biggest issue we have on offense,” Harbaugh said about the penalties. “Why did we bog down? Well, it’s because of that. We’re sitting there at first-and-20. It will continue to be addressed, and it will get corrected, because you have to play winning football. You can’t lose the game if you want to win the game.”
Another for Harbaugh’s optimism is the all of the Ravens’ losses have come by a total of 11 points. One play here or there and Baltimore could just as easily be 6-0.
“Our issues are self-inflicted. We can fix them ourselves,” he said. “If I have any frustration, it’s the fact that it’s taken us this long. We won four preseason games, we won our first three games. We had issues in those games as well, but we found a way to win them.”
GAME PLAN: The Ravens need to cut down on careless penalties, especially on offense. Over the past three losses. Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco has faced several long-yard situations because of flags for holding and false starts. The Ravens will try to establish their running game early with Terrance West to take some pressure off the offensive line. If Flacco can play, he will take an occasional shot downfield against a Jets’ pass defense that is ranked 29th in the league and has allowed 13 touchdowns. Ryan Mallett will get the start for Baltimore if Flacco is forced to the sideline.
Even though Baltimore could be missing its top pass rusher with Terrell Suggs, the Ravens are going to be aggressive to keep the pressure on the Jets’ offensive line and quarterback Geno Smith, who is reportedly starting in place of the benched Ryan Fitzpatrick. No team has been able to run against Baltimore this season and the Jets running attack, ranked 19th in the NFL, will be facing an uphill battle to gain yards.