The Ravens have placed Pro Bowl return specialist Devin Duvernay on injured reserve with a back injury, opening the door for Week 14 hero Tylan Wallace to continue in the punt return role for the rest of the regular season.
By rule, Duvernay must remain on IR for a minimum of four weeks, meaning he won’t be eligible to return until the postseason. For the final four games of the regular season, the punt return job appears to belong to Wallace, whose 76-yard punt return touchdown in overtime gave the Ravens a 37-31 win against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 10. Before that game, Wallace had never returned punts in a regular-season game.
Duvernay was injured earlier in the game on a play that didn’t count; the play was nullified because Wallace had lined up offside, giving the Rams a first down.
Through 13 games this season, Duvernay has returned 23 punts for 290 yards, and his average of 12.6 yards per return ranked fourth in the league. He has averaged 19.3 yards on nine kickoff returns.
Duvernay was named to the Pro Bowl each of the past two years. He led the league in punt return average (13.8) in 2021 and finished in the top 10 in both punt and kick return average in each of the past two years.
Duvernay has had little impact on the Ravens’ passing game amid the revamped receiver room. He has just four catches for 18 yards, and his offensive snaps are down sharply from previous seasons.
When Duvernay went down against the Rams, the Ravens turned to Wallace. The third-year receiver has been one of the Ravens’ top special-teamers throughout his career, primarily as a punt-team gunner. Like Duvernay, Wallace has had little role with the Ravens’ offense this season and has yet to catch a pass.
Head coach John Harbaugh said after the game that the coaches had considered rookie receiver Zay Flowers for the punt return job, but instead called on Wallace.
“He’s a veteran guy who’s kind of been through it,” Harbaugh said. “… You just felt like, ‘He deserves it. He’s ready for that moment.'”
To fill Duvernay’s spot on the 53-man roster, the Ravens signed quarterback Malik Cunningham off the New England Patriots’ practice squad. Cunningham, 25, was a former teammate of Lamar Jackson at Louisville. Cunningham redshirted his freshman season in 2017, which was Jackson’s last at Louisville.
Cunningham signed with the Patriots as an undrafted rookie free agent this spring, then was cut at the end of training camp and signed to the practice squad. He appeared in one game, playing six snaps.
The Ravens now have four quarterbacks on the roster with Jackson, Tyler Huntley, Josh Johnson and Cunningham. Huntley and Johnson are both set to become unrestricted free agents in March.
Cunningham was on the practice field on Dec. 13 for his first workout with the Ravens, wearing No. 12.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox