The Ravens have played without left tackle Ronnie Stanley for most of the last two seasons because of ankle problems, but the team is hopeful that things are now moving in a better direction.
General Manager Eric DeCosta said last month that it was a mistake for the Ravens to expect Stanley to be at full strength heading into the 2021 season and said at the Scouting Combine that he won’t make the same one again this week. While that’s his mindset, DeCosta also said that the word from Stanley is that he’s in better shape at this point in the offseason than he was last year.
“I feel like I can say Ronnie feels farther ahead now than he did at the same stage last year,” DeCosta said, via the team’s website. “He’s excited, he’s very optimistic, I think he’s working hard. As an organization, we’re very optimistic. As I said before, I’m not going to make the same mistake. We’ll have contingency plans moving forward. But we’re optimistic that Ronnie is making good progress.”
DeCosta said he thinks the offensive line prospects this year are a “very, very strong” group, so the Ravens may be in the market for insurance that would make it easier to deal with any future absences from their left tackle.