If you thought Kenneth Dixon's knee injury was the biggest concern for the Ravens this preseason, you'd be wrong. Joe Flacco has a disk injury in his back and is preparing to miss 3-6 weeks. Given the nature of the injury, the team will hope it's only that much time.
The timetable makes it unlikely we'll see Flacco in the preseason. They're not going to want to expose him to a hit that could sideline him even longer in a meaningless game. The upper end of the missed time guess would have him ready for Week 1, but it's a vague enough estimate that you have to wonder a little about that, too.
The linked story indicates the team isn't concerned about Flacco's regular-season availability, so we'll go along with that. But he's got a new starting wideout in Jeremy Maclin, so you'd have liked him to get a few preseason reps.
Back issues have cost players significant time in recent years: Tony Romo, Rob Gronkowski, J.J. Watt, anyone? Those injuries required surgery, so no reason to think Flacco's is as severe. But it's a concern for the team's offense.
Next in line is Ryan Mallett -- with the team since 2015, but he attempted only 6 passes last season. He should be the No. 1 in the exhibitions. Speculation immediately cropped up that Baltimore could consider Colin Kaepernick; offensive assistant Greg Roman was Kaepernick's coordinator, plus there's a Harbaugh connection. Just speculation though, and debatable whether the passing game would be any better than with Mallett anyway.
No team has averaged more passing attempts over the last two seasons (42 per game), so clearly the Flacco health status is significant. Makes sense to lower projections for the passing game slightly across the board, at least until something more positive comes out indicating Flacco should definitely be fine for the regular season.
--Andy Richardson