The Ravens don’t know yet how much time linebacker C.J. Mosley will miss.
But they know how much they missed him last night.
When the middle linebacker left last night’s game in the first quarter with a bone bruise, the Bengals ripped off four straight touchdown drives. It was part of a larger breakdown for the Ravens, but Mosley’s absence was hard to miss.
“When you play like crap in the first half in all three phases, then that’s just going to happen,” safety Eric Weddle said, via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. “You dig yourself a hole. So hopefully C.J. won’t be out too long, but we battled back and fought our tails off in the second half. It’s too far of a hole when you don’t play the way you’re supposed to play.”
Many teams who lose their defensive signal-caller would struggle, but the immediacy with which the Ravens collapsed was notable. Replacement Patrick Onwuasor initially had the headset, but Weddle took over in the second half, and things settled a bit.
“We were kind of just scrambling around when [Mosley] went out,” cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “Some guys didn’t even know he was out. It’s kind of in-between. I really couldn’t tell you.”
Then again, it was against the Bengals, so perhaps it wasn’t a surprise.
The Ravens are 9-12 against Cincinnati during the John Harbaugh years, having won just two of the last 10 meetings.