With Dennis Pitta out for the year thanks to a hip injury, the Ravens have to turn to Ed Dickson as their starting tight end during their title defense.
So it's not great news that Dickson is also dealing with an injury, having been pulled out of practice Sunday with a strained hamstring.
"Ed Dickson, his hamstring grabbed a little bit, so we pulled him out for precautionary reasons," John Harbaugh said. "We'll take a look at it [Sunday] and see how it looks."
Harbaugh, per Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, "downplayed" the injury and, as you can see above, called the decision to yank Dickson simply "precautionary."
But regardless of whether or not it's a major injury, the Ravens have to be a little worried. With Anquan Boldin in San Francisco and Pitta sidelined, there's not a ton of safety-valve type pass catchers available for Joe Flacco to hit.
The Ravens almost have to become a more running-focused offense in 2013 thanks to a dearth of viable pass-catching options.
Not that they were necessarily ever going to not feature Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce, of course. But having to worry about whether or not a critical backup-turned-starter will be healthy has to be a major concern this early in the year.
