OWINGS MILLS, MD. — Ravens wide receiver and return specialist Devin Duvernay has been placed on injured reserve with a foot injury, dealing another blow to a Ravens passing game that has scuffled mightily during the second half of the season.
To replace Duvernay on the 53-man roster, the Ravens claimed veteran wide receiver Sammy Watkins off waivers after his release by the Green Bay Packers this week.
Duvernay was on the field during the kick return portion of practice open to the media on Dec. 20, but shortly after the offensive portion of practice began, he was seen walking very slowly to the locker room with a trainer.
Duvernay must remain on injured reserve a minimum of four weeks, meaning his regular season is over. Depending on the severity of his injury, the soonest he could return would be the second round of the postseason.
The Ravens (9-5) are in second place in the AFC North with three games remaining and host the Atlanta Falcons (5-9) on Dec. 24.
A third-round pick in the 2020 draft, Duvernay finishes his season with 37 receptions for 407 yards and three touchdowns, all career highs, and also ran 12 times for 84 yards and a score.
Duvernay, who was named to the Pro Bowl as a return specialist last year, served as the Ravens’ top kick and punt returner as well. He averaged 25.5 yards on 15 kickoff returns, including a 103-yard touchdown return of the opening kickoff against Miami in Week 2, and averaged 11.9 yards per punt return.
Duvernay was expected to ascend to the Ravens’ No. 2 receiver role after the offseason trade of Marquise Brown, and he quickly looked the part, with a pair of touchdown catches in the season-opening win against the New York Jets and three touchdowns in the first three games.
But he hasn’t caught a touchdown pass since, and, remarkably, nor has any other Ravens wide receiver.
With top receiver Rashod Bateman (foot) out for the season, Duvernay and Demarcus Robinson had become the leaders of a wide receiver group that in midseason signed veteran DeSean Jackson as a stopgap measure. Jackson has seven catches for 134 yards in five games with the team.
Now with Duvernay sidelined, the Ravens turn to Watkins, 29, the No. 4 overall pick in 2014 who played for the Ravens last season but has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career. In 13 games for the Ravens last year, Watkins had 27 catches for 394 yards and one touchdown.
He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Packers, but was released earlier this week. He had 13 catches for 206 yards in nine games for the Packers.
The Ravens’ offense has struggled to find any consistency since the bye week, a problem compounded when starting quarterback Lamar Jackson suffered a knee injury against the Denver Broncos on Dec. 4. He has missed the past two games and is considered questionable for the Christmas Eve game against Atlanta; he missed his seventh straight practice Dec. 20.
The Ravens lost at Cleveland this past week, 13-3, and have been held under 20 points in four of their past five games. Jackson left one of those, a 10-9 win against Denver, after the first quarter, and missed the next two.
The Ravens rank 27th in the league in passing offense, with 180.6 passing yards a game.
NOTEBOOK
JACKSON ONE OF EIGHT ABSENCES AT PRACTICE: Lamar Jackson was one of eight Ravens who missed the team’s Dec. 20 workout, and head coach John Harbaugh offered no update on his starting quarterback, deferring to the injury report. Defensive end Calais Campbell (knee) and cornerback Marcus Peters (calf), who left the game at Cleveland with injuries, also did not practice.
Others who sat out, with injury or rest designations, included running back J.K. Dobbins (rest/knee), outside linebacker Justin Houston (rest), tackle Morgan Moses (rest), tackle Ronnie Stanley (rest/ankle) and guard Kevin Zeitler (rest/knee).
BOWSER APOLOGIZES TO ROMAN: Linebacker Tyus Bowser said it was a “bad move” to post on social media papers that read “Fire Greg Roman,” and he said he met with the Ravens’ embattled offensive coordinator to clear the air.
In the hours after the Ravens 13-3 loss at Cleveland, Bowser said he returned to the team facility to receive extra treatment and saw the looseleaf, handwritten papers scattered on the ground outside the entrance. He posted them to his Instagram story, creating something of a firestorm.
“I wasn’t expecting to see that, and wasn’t thinking of it,” Bowser said. “For me to post that … I thought it was a bad move, and that didn’t make us look any good at all, especially after a loss.”
Bowser said he made it a point to meet personally with Roman to apologize. “I have full, full 100 percent respect for him. I told him that,” Bowser said, “I’ve got nothing but love and appreciation for what he does. … Everybody here respects him, and I definitely respect him.”
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