Ravens wide receiver Devin Duvernay suffered a thigh bruise after colliding with safety Chuck Clark on a sideline throw in an 11-on-11 period during Saturday night’s open practice at M&T Bank Stadium.
Duvernay and Clark appeared not to see each other as they tracked the overthrown ball from quarterback Lamar Jackson, with Duvernay running up the right sideline and Clark coming downhill from his deep zone.
Duvernay hobbled off the field before athletic trainers tended to him on the sideline. After stretching, he remained on the field, though he did not return to practice.
Coach John Harbaugh said Duvernay could’ve returned, but he was held out for precautionary reasons. “Good news, nothing serious there,” Harbaugh said. “He could have come back. I just said no, not tonight.”
Duvernay, who’s in line to open the season as the Ravens’ No. 2 wide receiver, has had a solid start to training camp. The Ravens have Sunday off before returning to Monday’s padded practice, the first of camp.
“It’s going to be exciting to see,” Harbaugh said. “That will be the first time. The biggest thing to look for with practice is how the guys handle the mental part of it. All of a sudden, they’ve got something more to think about — the physical part of it — and not let it be too big for you. They’ll handle the assignments, the cadence, being in the right place and stuff.”
Injury report
Tight end Nick Boyle and safety Marcus Williams returned to practice Saturday after missing Friday’s session.
Boyle missed roughly 30 minutes of Thursday’s practice, spending time talking to trainers and stretching before eventually coming back to run a few plays with the offense. Harbaugh said Williams dealt with a minor injury in mandatory minicamp.
Second-year offensive lineman Ben Cleveland, who is battling for the starting left guard spot, missed his fourth straight practice of training camp Saturday after another failed conditioning test. Harbaugh said Cleveland, a third-round pick in 2021, isn’t dealing with an injury.
“It’s just passing the conditioning test,” he said. “He’s struggling with that part of it. You’re not going to put a player out there until he can do it. We think it’s that important. I know he can do it. He’s going to do it. He’s just got to get out there and get it done.”
Running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, left tackle Ronnie Stanley, outside linebacker Tyus Bowser, cornerback Marcus Peters and safety Ar’Darius Washington remain on the physically-unable-to-perform list and did not practice.
Rookie tight end Charlie Kolar, who is undergoing sports hernia surgery, and rookie outside linebacker David Ojabo, who is still unsigned and holding out of camp, also did not participate.
Bateman, Andrews shine
In maybe his best throw of camp, Jackson connected with second-year receiver Rashod Bateman for a nearly 50-yard pass during an 11-on-11 period of practice
Bateman was Jackson’s top wide receiver target throughout Saturday’s practice and continued to stand out as the team’s top option there.
“He does the same thing every practice,” Harbaugh said Saturday. “Every practice is the same. He’s very consistent. And we tell the guys, the true testament of mental toughness is consistency — the ability to do it not just once, but every day, day after day. He’s certainly doing it.”
Tight end Mark Andrews likely ended the night as the Ravens’ most targeted receiver, dominating over the middle of the field.
“It seemed like every ball was going to Mark,” rookie safety Kyle Hamilton said, “and they were completing it.”
Happy returns
Defensive tackle Michael Pierce didn’t need a lot of time to consider whether he wanted a Ravens reunion.
“It was a one-and-done,” Pierce said after practice, in his first meeting with local reporters since signing a three-year, $16.5 million deal in March. “When my agent was like, ‘Do you have any interest in going back to Baltimore?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”
Pierce missed organized team activities and mandatory minicamp with what he called some “personal stuff,” but he passed his conditioning test after reporting for training camp. He’s anchored the middle of the Ravens’ defensive line over the team’s first four practices.
“I’d like to keep my family business outside of the media,” he said. “It’s just something that needed my immediate attention. I had to wrap my arms around my family, and we got everything handled. Glad to be back playing football, and everybody’s healthy.”
He added: “I want to lead and I want to be the best I can be, and that’s what they need me to do.”
Extra points
>> Kicker Justin Tucker hit a 60-yard field goal to end the special teams segment of practice.
>> Rookie punter Jordan Stout also impressed early in practice, pinning a couple of angled punts from near midfield inside the 5-yard line.
>> An announced 26,417 were on hand for Saturday night’s open practice. The team said Friday that all 40,000 stadium passes were claimed. It got so loud at one point that the crowd noise appeared to affect the Ravens’ execution of a no-huddle drill. “They started shooting T-shirts into the stands, and the crowd came alive,” Harbaugh said. “It was deafening, and we jumped offsides twice.”
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