Baltimore is beginning another season with a banged-up secondary.
Top Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey is dealing with a foot injury and is expected to undergo surgery on it Wednesday, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero reported, per sources.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh confirmed Humphrey's scheduled surgery after Wednesday's practice.
Baltimore is hoping Humphrey will return in a month or so, meaning he'll likely miss the first couple of games of the 2023 season, per Rapoport.
Humphrey's injury is the latest to a group that has been unable to avoid getting dinged up during camp. Projected starter Rock Ya-Sin is currently dealing with an injury suffered two weeks ago, while Arthur Maulet and Jalyn Armour-Davis are also working their way back to the field.
The Ravens are very familiar with this set of circumstances in recent years. In 2021, a wave of injuries on both sides of the ball decimated both their running backs room and their secondary, forcing Baltimore's staff to look far down its roster (and beyond) to assemble a group capable of playing in late-season contests. Baltimore's front office attempted to prevent such an outcome in 2022 by spending three draft picks on defensive backs, and used another pick in 2023 on a corner, Stanford's Kyu Kelly.
It's not for lack of trying, but bad luck has repeatedly struck the Ravens. This time, it stings a little more because the issue affects Baltimore's best defensive back.
The good news for the Ravens: Humphrey is undergoing the surgery now, and not in the middle of a playoff push (which is what happened to him and a number of others in 2021). It's better to get it taken care of in August than December.
