Several teams are taking Christmas Day off, leaving us with estimated reports about what their injured players would have been able to do if they had practiced.
Baltimore didn’t practice, for example, and they released their estimate on Wednesday afternoon. Quarterback Joe Flacco, who has a sprained left knee and was limited in practice last week before playing in the 41-7 loss to the Patriots, is not on it at all. Flacco said Tuesday he’s felt soreness in his knee since Sunday’s game and that he’ll be wearing a brace against Cincinnati in Week 17.
Running back Ray Rice (thigh) and linebacker Elvis Dumervil (ankle) would have both been limited while center Geno Gradkowski (knee) and defensive end Arthur Jones (concussion) wouldn’t have practiced.
The Bengals are also one of those teams taking the day off. Their report showed linebacker Vontaze Burfict and tight end Tyler Eifert among those that would have missed practice entirely. Burfict suffered a concussion last weekend, leaving him to be cleared by the league’s concussion protocol to return for the Bengals’ attempt to move into the AFC’s second seed. The Bengals can bump themselves up a rung with a win against the Ravens and a Patriots loss.
Eifert is dealing with a neck injury and Jermaine Gresham would have been limited with a hamstring injury. Gresham missed the team’s Tuesday workout, so the Bengals could be thin at tight end this weekend. Cornerback Terence Newman, who has missed the last two games, was also listed as out.