I do not know if WR Donte Stallworth suffered his broken foot as a WR, or if the injury occurred during one of his 3 punt returns in last nights 24-10 exhibition win for the Baltimore Ravens over the New York Giants.
I do know that using Stallworth as a Punt Returner in a meaningless game was a poor decision by the Coaching Staff, and that has nothing to do with 20/20 hindsight. When you still have bodies on the roster competing to make the team via Special Teams (Miller, Reed) why would you not be using them exclusively in a meaningless exhibition game? Why in the world would you use a player like Stallworth, who was likely to receive regular playing time when the action counted?
It was just as dumb for Zbikowski to be back there for his Punt Return. Yes, you have Safety depth even if Reed is placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list. However, Zbikowski figures to be the starter if Reed is unavailable, and the top back-up when Reed returns. There is no reason to further risk Zbikowski to injury in a game that does not count.
Dumb personnel decisions were not limited to who was returning Punts. The Ravens were up 17-0 with 37 seconds left in the 1st-half when they again took possession. Flacco had already passed for two touchdowns, and had orchestrated 3 long scoring drives. He had accomplished what you wanted him to accomplish, his night should have been over. The interception was a poor result from Flacco, the Coaching staff allowing him to reenter the game and be in-position to be sacked by Justin Tuck was a worse decision.
Ray Lewis has been in the league since the 1996 inception of the Ravens, and has played in 194 career Regular Season games. What was the upside in allowing him to play at-all? What was the 35 year-old going to accomplish in 30 minutes of exhibition action? Him sitting on the sideline with his knee heavily wrapped is something that simply did not have to occur last night.
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Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.