The Ravens were devastated by injuries last season, and coach John Harbaugh says avoiding a repeat of that is his top priority this year.
Harbaugh said the Ravens will adjust their practices, starting with organized team activities in the spring, to try to keep players healthier.
“We think we have some really good ideas, and I’m excited about it,” Harbaugh said, via ESPN. “We’re going to approach OTAs differently. We’re going to approach training camp, some big-picture schedule differently in terms of the way we ramp and in terms of the way we time practices, how long we’re on the field and what we’re doing on the field and how we pace the rhythm of the practices.”
Harbaugh said the players won’t be as taxed in practices in an attempt to keep them healthier in games.
“It’ll be a little bit shorter, a little more execution oriented, less competitive type of practice,” Harbaugh said. “Even our practices will go less ones against ones [starters against starters] than we have done in the past. Things like that, I think, will help us.”
FootballOutsiders.com uses a statistic called “adjusted games lost” that measures not just how many games players missed, but how important those players were. No team in the NFL had as many key players miss games with injuries as the Ravens did in 2021 — and it wasn’t close. Getting healthier will be a big part of getting back to the playoffs in 2022.