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What is a hip-drop tackle? Ravens coach John Harbaugh pondered the question at his Monday press conference after wide receiver Rashod Bateman suffered an ankle sprain in Sunday’s win over the Minnesota Vikings.

Ahead of the 2024 season, Harbaugh was one of those glad to see the play banned from the game, especially after his star tight end Mark Andrews suffered a severe ankle injury after he was brought down by a hip-drop tackle.

But since the ban, the tackle was not penalized in any games in the 2024 season and has only been called twice in 2025. It’s mostly been punished retroactively, with fines doled out the Saturday after games. And now, Bateman has hurt his ankle on a play Harbaugh thought fit the description.

“It’s an enigma, apparently, that can’t be called in the game,” he said.

Harbaugh said he thinks that Bateman will be OK, but the team will know more about the severity of the injury after Wednesday’s practice.

While Bateman has a chance to return soon, another Raven suffered a more significant injury. Undrafted rookie linebacker Jay Higgins was seen in a full leg brace after the game. Harbaugh said it’s a serious injury, but it shouldn’t be season-ending. He projected Higgins’ timeline to be at least a few weeks.

The Ravens will also be monitoring cornerback Marlon Humphrey’s finger injury. Humphrey said he suffered the injury Friday and was playing through it during the Vikings game. He had his left hand wrapped in the locker room afterward, and his hand was clearly swollen when he took it off.

“Yeah, he might need to get something done to tighten it up, which would be ... he could play right away maybe ... or it might take a week to get him back from that if he does decide to do a surgery,” Harbaugh said. “But it would only be a week at the most, is what I was told.”

Humphrey said after the game he had never dealt with this type of injury before and was unsure how it would progress.

“It was not the most comfortable, that’s for sure,” he said. “But we’ll see going forward.”

Call-ups

The Ravens’ newest acquisition, outside linebacker Dre’Mont Jones, jumped onto the field immediately. While he didn’t have any splash plays, he recorded four quarterback pressures, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.

Harbaugh commended Jones for getting all of his assignments right after coming to Baltimore in a Nov. 3 deal with the Tennessee Titans.

“[He] was versatile along the line... and was a factor,” Harbaugh said. “Physicality, quickness, knows how to play the game. He added a good flavor to it.”

Jones was happy to kick off his Ravens career with a win, even if he felt he can improve, personally.

“I haven’t won in a while,” Jones said. “It was good to do it with a team like this. I thought I played solid. Obviously, I can get better, but I feel like I’m going to do more each and every week.”

Meanwhile, veteran edge rusher Carl Lawson remained on the practice squad after signing with the Ravens on Oct. 23.

Harbaugh said that was more because of the numbers game, with the team needing to give more reps to defensive linemen, rather than another edge rusher.

“I definitely want to get him up ... he’s ready to roll,” Harbaugh said.

The Ravens’ pass rush has struggled since defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike suffered a season-ending neck injury. Then the Ravens traded outside linebacker Odafe Oweh to the Los Angeles Chargers for safety Alohi Gilman. While that move has helped the defense overall, it made the pass rush regress even more.

The Ravens had just one sack against the Vikings, by defensive lineman Travis Jones, although they had 12 quarterback hurries.

Lawson had five sacks in 15 games with the Dallas Cowboys last season. Jones had 4.5 sacks in nine games with the Titans before being traded.