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In the interest of full disclosure, I figured that I'd let you all know that I'm currently down in semi-sunny Orlando, FL providing supplemental video coverage of the MLB Winter Meetings for MASNsports.com
It's actually much colder here than I thought it would be, and apparently they're not used to the "chilly" 60 degree afternoons, as there are a few heat lamps spread out throughout the entrance area to my hotel.
Can you believe that? People huddled around heat lamps on a sunny 60 degree day. These people make me sick.
Anyway, despite all the baseball stuff going on around me, I'll be posting Ravens updates throughout my time down here, so stick with me. I'll be back in good old B-more in a couple days (where the heat lamps are actually necessary), and I'll have all the late-week updates from The Castle as the Ravens prepare to take on the Texans on Monday night.
During his press conference yesterday afternoon, head coach John Harbaugh said that tight end Todd Heap, who pulled his hamstring on the very first play from scrimmage in the Ravens' loss to the Steelers Sunday night, isn't looking good for Monday's game in Houston.
"Todd is probably the one that we really are concerned about," Harbaugh said, in comments provided by the team. "I don't want to rule him out yet, but it doesn't look good for next week. It's one of those hamstring pulls that's going to be tough. So, the young guys are going to have to step up."
The young guys Harbaugh refers to are Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta, the Ravens' third and fouth-round draft picks this year. With Heap out for nearly the entire game against Pittsburgh, Dickson got extended playing time, making three grabs for 21 yards (on seven targets), but he also had a key drop and was flagged for a holding penalty. Pitta was targeted once by quarterback Joe Flacco, but did not register a catch.
While Heap's injury is serious enough for Harbaugh to already be talking about him likely missing the Monday night game, Harbaugh doesn't think that it's something which will land the Ravens' two-time Pro Bowler on Injured Reserve.
"I don't think so," Harbaugh said. "That's not something Bill [Tessendorf, head athletic trainer] told me today. But we'll just have to see. We'll know in probably three to four days. We'll just see how it responds the next couple of days."
Meanwhile, Harbaugh said that after fullback Le'Ron McClain was declared a gameday inactive for Sunday night's game, he should be good to go against the Texans.
"He'll be back for sure this week," Harbaugh said.
McClain was considered a gametime decision Sunday night, but the Ravens decided to deactivate him and dress someone who they could be confident would give them a full game.
The two-time Pro Bowl fullback was disappointed that the team opted not to have him active, but Harbaugh said the Ravens felt the best course of action that night was to go another direction.
"I thought we missed him," Harbaugh said. "He's a guy that helps you, having him in there. I know as a player that you feel like you can play through anything, and that you can fight your way through anything. I've seen it with these ankles before. He's got a pretty tough ankle sprain, and he made almost a miraculous recovery. And yet, [if] you go out there and you tweak it the first play, and now you're out. And that was my fear.
"We had the three tight end stuff ready. We practiced it. I didn't want to put Le'Ron up, put somebody else down, then all of a sudden Le'Ron is down, and we're short. You only get 45 guys. It was a tough choice, and that's the way we decided to go. But, I think it's valid to say it didn't help us not having him."
