OWINGS MILLS, MD – The last time I caught up with John Harbaugh, the Ravens coach was wrapping up the final day of minicamp, his mind already turning to the beach, his soul at ease. Harbaugh told me about how he was trying to adhere to a more calm and measured approach to life, not sweating the small stuff or getting worked up when, say, someone cuts him off in traffic.
Lately, that philosophical posture has been put to the test. The Ravens, who already endured one of the more bizarre and star-crossed offseasons in the entire NFL -- punctuated by fluke injuries and suspensions and retirements -- have seen the trend continue in the early days of camp. Before they could even take the field for the first time Thursday, Harbaugh's head was spinning, learning that $22 million-a-year quarterback Joe Flacco was going to be sidelined at least a week with a back injury, getting a 6 a.m. call from possible starting center John Urschel, 26, informing the team he was retiring and spending part of the day on the phone gauging the interest and readiness of NFL pariah Colin Kaepernick to join his team.
So, how's that new zen thing (my words, not the coach's) working out two days into the 2017 preseason, coach?
"I was looking forward to vacation then," Harbaugh quipped, harkening back to our chat in June. "Can anybody out there relate to looking forward to a couple of weeks off? … Have I been able to maintain it? Well, I'd like to think in the philosophical realm that you seem to be digging into, I'd like to think that I've grown as a person, so that I handle stress better maybe than yesterday, or 10 years ago. So, I guess the answer is yes, I'm a better human being than I was before vacation."
Harbaugh was in good spirits for sure, despite having to endure a practice marred by mistakes on offense; a natural byproduct of the fact the team has nothing close to an NFL starting quarterback on the current roster in Flacco's absence (oh, and All-Pro guard Marshal Yanda, the glue of a very uncertain offensive line, is being held back as a stalwart veteran and not practicing). The odds would say that things have to start turning in Baltimore's favor here soon, and that Harbaugh's new mantra has already been pushed to the brink. But then again you never know, as, with maybe five minutes left in practice, their imperiled tight-ends group absorbed another blow, with oft-injured Crockett Gillmore hobbling off the field with trainers with a right-leg injury the team is still evaluating.
We'll chronicle the litany of strange and unforeseen occurrences in these parts soon enough, but the news of the day was the relatively benign ongoing diagnosis of Flacco's back woes. The team saw nothing of concern on his MRI and continue to believe he'll be alright after a week or so of rest after tweaking his lower back lifting weights. Flacco said the issue isn't disk-related and that primarily he feels discomfort when having to bend over, but at this point all parties are being cautious and conservative. Smart move, as this offense will live and die with the former Super Bowl MVP, still devoid of impact skill players in their prime and with few proven weapons to count on.
"It's going to calm down and I'm going to feel good," Flacco said, confident this is not something that will carry over into the regular season. "I think the big part of it is making sure that I rest right now, and don't push it to that extra point and make it something I have to deal with all season."
Flacco said there wasn't really one particular instance where he hurt his back, but that he felt gradual discomfort, and it reached a point where at least a week of rest made sense. That determination was made over the weekend, basically on the eve of camp, and despite some media reports claiming Flacco could miss upwards of six weeks, I've heard nothing close to that (the decision to sign camp arm David Olsen, out of an arena football league, instead of Kaepernick points to as much as well).
"No, it's just a little bit of stiffness down there," Flacco said when asked if this was a disk issue. "We're just trying to be cautious about it and hopefully it calms down here pretty quickly."
Still, it had to give Harbaugh some pause on the heels of everything else he's had to deal with the past three months or so. It was enough to trigger a series of phone calls between him and Kaepernick, whom Ravens assistant coach Greg Roman coached in San Francisco and whom Harbaugh's brother, Jim, turned into a Super Bowl-starting quarterback there. John Harbaugh continued to praise Kaepernick's ability at a time when the league has collectively shunned him, despite a far more prolific body of work than almost any backup in the league and many starters.
Baltimore is in a salary-cap bind, and is still seeking potential upgrades at right tackle, outside linebacker and/or center, and is OK with Ryan Mallett as the No. 2 right now. I wouldn't anticipate any movement on Kaepernick unless their run of bad luck extends to Flacco's recovery, though I'd also posit he is markedly better and more accomplished than Mallett.
"His body of work speaks for itself," Harbaugh said of Kaepernick. "... We haven't worked him out, but from what he tells me he's in great shape." However, with Flacco considered only day-to-day, "Do we really need to make that move or not?" the coach asked.
Kaepernick or not, the Ravens already have plenty going on:
- Gillmore's latest injury scare further shrinks a tight-end group that once appeared to be, dare I say it, too deep. Dennis Pitta, coming off a career year as Flacco's favorite target, suffered yet another season-ending hip injury this spring, effectively ending his career.
- Recent second-round pick Maxx Williams, yet to display much, is out indefinitely following his surgery, and Darren Waller was suspended for a year by the league a few weeks back. That leaves Ben Watson, 36 and coming off missing all of last season with Achilles surgery, and Nick Boyle, who has a history of PED suspensions, atop the depth chart.
- Kenneth Dixon, who was being counted on for explosive plays in the run game when he returned from a four-game suspension, was instead lost for the season to another knee injury while preparing for training camp.
- During OTAs, yet another critical contributor was lost for the year in a non-contact scenario when emerging top slot corner Tavon Young went down with an ACL tear.
- Oh yeah, and some guy named Steve Smith, who remained the most feared receiver on this roster in 2016 despite his age, stuck with his plan to retire despite the Ravens' hopes (however faint) of incentivizing him to do otherwise.
It was hard not to joke with some veterans that maybe they need to bring in a witch doctor, hold a séance or do something to try to break this curse hanging over this practice facility. Harbaugh's mental approach has had to become contagious with the run of bad luck going around.
"We were talking about that yesterday when they broke the news (about Urschel)," Flacco said. "It is what it is, man. Things happen to guys, guys make decisions and you've just got to roll with it."
Despite all of the above, the Ravens still believe, after flirting with the playoffs a year ago, that they can get back there now. Missing the postseason for the fourth time in five years would likely have major repercussions for the coaching staff or front office, or possibly both, and while questions abound on offense, this rebuilt defense will keep them in games.
I challenged Harbaugh to wax poetic on it all, finding any greater perspective from his new approach, and he did not disappoint.
"How's it go, I came upon a fork in the road and I took the one less traveled?" the coach said. "Well, I've got a better one: When you come to a fork in the road … take it."
He was quoting no less than esteemed thinker Yogi Berra, who also once proclaimed, "It ain't over til it's over," something the Ravens hope applies to the rash of freak injuries, mounting suspensions and all around bad luck still engulfing the building they refer to as The (Haunted?) Castle.
