The outlook for the Baltimore Ravens’ battered defense didn’t get any better on Monday.
A day after the team’s 37-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs dropped the Ravens to 1-3, head coach John Harbaugh announced that Pro Bowl defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike’s neck injury will cause him to miss the rest of the season. Madubuike, a third-round pick out of Texas A&M in 2020 who had not played since Week 2, finishes the season with seven tackles and two sacks. He is currently in the second season of a four-year, $98 million contract extension.
Harbaugh has been cryptic about the nature of Madubuike’s injury, a pattern that continued Monday.
‘I really can’t speak for him, wouldn’t want to,’ said Harbaugh. ‘Those are questions that would be best answered by him going forward, and he may be still getting some information on that as well. (I’ll) leave that for him to answer.’
In slightly better news, Harbaugh said D-lineman Broderick Washington Jr., who injured an ankle in the team’s loss to the Detroit Lions last week, will come off injured reserve at some point later this season.
Long known for playing a punishing and effective brand of defense, the Ravens are currently allowing 33.3 points per game, worst in the league, and 406.8 yards per game, second worst overall and last in the AFC.
The Ravens will host the Houston Texans, another 2024 division winner off to a 1-3 start, this Sunday.
How long is Nnamdi Madubuike out?
The Ravens placed him on injured reserve Saturday ahead of the Kansas City game. Harbaugh confirmed Monday that Madubuike will not be recalled from IR for the duration of the 2025 season.
Ravens DL depth chart
DE Nnamdi Madubuike (IR)
Broderick Washington Jr. (IR, eligible to be recalled after four weeks)
Travis Jones
John Jenkins
Aeneas Peebles
C.J. Okoye (practice squad)
Josh Tupou (practice squad)
Brent Urban (practice squad)
Taven Bryan (practice squad)