Ed Reed was upgraded from limited to full participation for Friday’s practice and is listed as probable for Sunday’s AFC championship game between the Ravens and New England Patriots.
The eight-time Pro Bowl free safety, who suffered an injured left ankle after landing on it awkwardly in Sunday’s win against the Houston Texans, was limited in practice Wednesday and Thursday. He is expected to start against New England.
Without mentioning Reed specifically, coach John Harbaugh had no updates to provide after Friday’s practice.
“Injury-wise, nothing new,” he said. “Everything’s fine.”
The Patriots removed quarterback Tom Brady from their final injury report. Brady, who did not practice Wednesday because of an injured left shoulder, participated fully in Thursday’s session.
New England cornerback Kyle Arrington (foot) and center Dan Connolly (groin) practiced fully for the third consecutive day, and both are regarded as probable.
Ten Patriots starters were limited for the third straight day and are listed as questionable: wide receivers Wes Welker (knee) and Deion Branch (knee), tight end Aaron Hernandez (concussion), linebackers Rob Ninkovich (hip) and Brandon Spikes (concussion), safeties Patrick Chung (knee) and James Ihedigbo (shoulder), left guard Logan Mankins (knee), right tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back/foot) and defensive tackle Kyle Love (ankle).
Will Webb be on Welker?
Conventional wisdom would seem to suggest that the Ravens’ top cornerback, Lardarius Webb, would be matched up against Welker, the Patriots’ top wide receiver.
If that’s the plan, though, Webb isn’t tipping his hand.
“I’m not locked on him or anything. He’s just one of the wide receivers,” Webb said. “They have a lot of good wide receivers, a lot of good talent around them. Brady is surrounded with talent, and once you have a great quarterback with that much talent, the sky’s the limit to what they can do.”
Tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Hernandez get a lot of attention, but Welker led the NFL this season in receptions (122) and finished second in receiving yards (1,569).
Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano described Welker as “quick as a cat” and with “feet like a shorebird.”
“Just underneath, down the middle, in-and-out, they move him around out of the backfield, he’s all over the place,” Pagano said. “We have to, No.1, identify where he’s at, what the situation is, what the down and distance is. Like I said, Brady’s got a certain comfort zone with him. He’s his go-to guy amongst others. He makes that thing go.”
Welker’s speed, especially as a slot receiver, would appear to be a match for Webb, who is also quick and often slides inside when cornerbacks Cary Williams and Jimmy Smith are on the field at the same time.
“He’s just a smart wide-out,” Webb said. “He’s got crisp routes and everything. I actually worked out a little bit with him in the offseason. He’s just always working. Once you’ve got a guy like that, a high-energy guy like that who is a baller, he’s just a straight-up baller. You can’t take anything from Wes. He’s always going 110 (percent), and when you’ve got a baller going at 110 all the time, it’s going to be hard to stop him.”
Parental support
Harbaugh said his parents are doing well despite being just two days away from watching their sons play for conference championships.
He was asked after Friday’s practice about the emotional state of his parents, Jack and Jackie Harbaugh.
“They’re doing fine, they’re doing great,” said the Ravens coach, whose younger brother Jim’s San Francisco 49ers host the New York Giants in Sunday’s NFC championship. “They’re excited. I think they’re looking forward to it. I talked to my dad last night. Got some good ideas X’s-and-O’s-wise and motivational-wise – always. Mom’s doing great. Talked to her for a long time. That was a great conversation. She’s always been there to have those conversations.”
Asked whether his parents had the same discussion with Jim, Harbaugh replied: “I didn’t ask them that. I didn’t ask them how many minutes on the phone they had with Jim or make a comparison on that. And that really doesn’t matter.”
Grid-Iron Man
Cal Ripken Jr. will serve as the Ravens’ honorary captain for Sunday’s game and will accompany the team’s captains to midfield for the pregame coin flip.
The Ravens felt that the Hall of Famer, who played his entire 21-season major league career with the Orioles, best exemplified Baltimore.