Ravens Injury Update: Lardarius Webb unsure he'll play vs Steelers

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb isn't quite ready to commit to playing this Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to Ravens Insider Aaron Wilson. Webb was sidelined during the Ravens season opener on Sunday with a back issue, an aggravating injury that kept him out of the entire preseason.

Webb's back became a concern in late July after undergoing sports hernia surgery shortly following the end of the season last year. The 28 year-old cornerback was a full participant on Monday after being a full participant in all three practices last week. Yet he still missed Sunday's game, so his status remains uncertain despite the full participation.

Webb was upset about missing the game, but said the decision lies with head coach John Harbaugh:

Yeah, I'm hoping to be out there as soon as I can.Just waiting on Harbs and the coaches to feel like I'm ready to go. Whenever they're ready to put me out there, I'll be ready to go. I'm kind of just waiting on the call. No setbacks, I'm just waiting on Harbs. Harbs makes the big decisions around here. I leave it in his hands. I miss it out there.

Harbaugh wouldn't go into detail on Webb's comments:

I’m not going to get into all of that. It’s really not important. It’s not information I really want out there. It wouldn’t do us any good to explain all that.

Webb is entering his sixth season with Baltimore and has accumulated 255 combined tackles, two forced fumbles, two sacks and 10 interceptions in 67 regular season games.  As a solid force in the Ravens secondary, Webb has missed 13 games due to various injuries in his career. 

Keith Allison via Wikimedia Commons

In 2009 Webb was sidelined and eventually put on the injured-reserve (IR) list for a knee injury.  Three years later in 2012 he missed 10 games and was back on the IR for yet another disastrous knee injury. 

Webb apparently had issues with bending over during drills to catch throws during the week, but had improved flexibility and movement before the season opener on Sunday.  Despite the improvements, Webb was put on the Ravens inactive list for Week 1.

#183849969 / gettyimages.com

The Ravens are hoping he will be able to play this Thursday night, as he is the most experienced cornerback and one of the best tacklers on Baltimore's defense.  Last year he accounted for 74 tackles, 22 deflected passes and two interceptions in 16 regular season games.

In the absence of Webb, the Ravens allowed 301 passing yards in Sunday's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals which includes a 77 yard game-winning touchdown pass to All-Pro wide receiver A.J. Green behind cornerback Chykie Brown.

The Baltimore Ravens take on the Pittsburgh Steelers this Thursday, September 11th.  Kickoff is 8:25 pm EST at M&T Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.

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