The Ravens made two roster moves just before practice started on Wednesday, needing to clear a roster spot for the acquisition of Diontae Johnson. Unfortunately, the roster space came in the form of Michael Pierce’s placement on injured reserve, a potentially devastating loss for an already-reeling Ravens defense. Pierce suffered a calf injury in the second quarter of Baltimore’s loss to the Browns on Sunday and did not return.

The Ravens defense has been struggling enough as it is, but they could still hang their hat on being one of the top run-defense groups in the league. Pierce’s absence could threaten that status, the front seven seemed to struggle against the run after Pierce and Brent Urban (concussion) exited the game. Hopefully, Urban will clear concussion protocol and return quickly, but Pierce is one of the most stout nose tackles in the league, making his loss is a big one for this unit.

The Ravens do have some options for this upcoming week. Chris Wormley has been on the practice squad for a couple of weeks now and should be ready to go. The Ravens also just added defensive tackle Josh Tupou following the Browns game. Justin Madubuike played a career-high of 86% of snaps, which is not ideal for keeping the $100 million pass rusher fresh enough to make an impact late in games. Broderick Washington also played a season-high 61% of snaps with Travis Jones limited to just 15 total snaps due to an ankle injury. Jones should hopefully get healthier for Denver and play a bigger role during what has been a breakout season for him. Denver has one of the best offensive line units in the league, so having a fresh and deep defensive line will be paramount to the defense’s success.

In other news, Diontae Johnson was announced as wearing #18 in the purple and black. Johnson wore 18 during his time in Pittsburgh but wore #5 during his eight weeks in Carolina. He comes back to the familiar number in the familiar AFC North, now wearing it for his former division rival.