The Ravens’ Jimmy Smith is out with an injured foot
When the Ravens face the Steelers and QB Ben Roethlisberger, it will have to be done without the services of Jimmy Smith, their top CB, something that many of the team’s pay per head fans fear could seriously get in the way of their clash with Pittsburgh and Big Ben.
Smith suffered a sprained left foot and will be out of the game for “a few weeks”. Coach John Harbaugh said that the player was injured when the Ravens made their opening drive in the team’s 27-24 defeat to the Bengals on Sunday.
“He’ll be back soon,” said Harbaugh on Monday.
Asa Jackson was put on the short-term IR list and Smith is out injured. Now, the Ravens’ roster list only includes three healthy CB’s – Chykie Brown, Lardarius Webb, and Dominique Franks. An NFL team wants to avoid missing important players when they take on Big Ben, who was able to throw for six TD’s and 522 yards when his team beat the Colts 51-34 on Sunday.
Smith, who was a first-round pick in 2011, is Baltimore’s top DB. The player leads his team with eight defensed passes, and was able to limit some of the NFL’s best WR’s, which include Vincent Jackson, A.J. Green, Kelvin Benjamin, and Antonio Brown.
Harbaugh did not want to speak about whether Baltimore would be making any moves by the trade deadline on Tuesday. The coach said that the team doesn’t have a real need to add a free-agent CB to their ranks, but he did indicate that the team could think about it.
“If we could find the right guy, [but] they’re scarce,” said the coach.
Harbaugh also said that Baltimore sent the NFL footage of a penalty that Steve Smith got for an offensive pass interference so they can review it, but he didn’t get an answer from them.
“I think it shows great heart and talent and says a lot about Joe [Flacco] and Steve and the offensive line that they could make a play like that,” said the coach. “It was one of the greatest plays I’ve ever seen.”
The Ravens’ pay per head fans wonder how the team will perform with these players out – especially since they will be facing Big Ben – but many fans are confident that they’ll find a way to work through this so they can prevail in their meeting with the Steelers.
