It’s Friday and the Ravens’ injury report again has Ronnie Stanley questionable for Sunday’s game. I can’t recall so much hype, drama, sadness, or potential happiness surrounding one player’s return. Towards the end of Jonathan Ogden’s career, we all just assumed that the turf toe had taken him out and we were at the end of the line, great career J.O. But when the scum of the Earth, TJ Watt, took out Ronnie back in 2020, he was at the top of his game.
Personally, I’ve had a wild relationship with Ronnie since draft night. It was the Ravens’ highest pick since 2000 and I was convinced we needed a playmaker so I was very upset at the pick. A LT was not going to fix any of our issues. That said, I was wrong and for the next 4.5 seasons Ronnie was solid as a rock.
Now, the injury was nasty, but we all had some apprehension considering the way TJ Watt bent his leg and all. After a full offseason and media coverage, I thought he would be back to himself in 2021. Then he played the opener vs the Raiders and got tossed around like a rag doll by Maxx Crosby. So, they rebroke his ankle and did another surgery because SOMEONE didn’t rehab like he was supposed to, raising questions of if this guy even liked football or if he was just another large human who secured the bag and said fuck it. And then the cherry on top was when Lamar got hurt due to shoddy OLine play. It was all crumbling.
Fast forward to this year and we made some moves in the offseason, we could wait a few weeks while Ronnie was STILL rehabbing. But there were also reports that Ronnie was full go, docs have completely cleared him… so it’s a mental thing? Sure man, figure it out in a week or two though, team needs you.
Then JaWaun James gets hurt week 1. Then Patrick Mekari gets hurt week 3. Then, instead of throwing our rookie RIGHT tackle, who has never started a game at LEFT tackle, surely Ronnie would make his return and do what was right for the team. NOPE. The Bills game comes and goes. And you know what? Daniel Faalele played GREAT against Von Miller and Greg Rosseau. Maybe its time to say screw Ronnie. And yet, I was looking at every practice report and every injury report. Just to see that Ronnie sits out ANOTHER Friday practice and listed as questionable. Feels like the writing is on the wall and we may be waiting another week.
Not like we have the Bengals coming to town or anything, not like we could use you to run the football down their throats or anything….. This injury saga is just getting old. I just want Ronnie back on the field so it’s one less thing we have to worry about. Roller coaster of emotions. I want to quit Ronnie Stanley. But I just can’t. This is all TJ Watt’s fault.
Happy Purple Friday. Go Ravens.
Images courtesy of Baltimore Ravens
Between the Yards 